Cover Your Tracks
by jcd117
Summary: Ariel Dixon has been traveling for a long time alongside her two brothers Daryl and Merle. The zombie apocalypse had just begun when the trio run into a group set up outside of Atlanta. That is where she meets Shane, the man who will change her life and destiny. Shane/OC rated M for strong language. Takes place in season 1 of The Walking Dead
1. Chapter 1: We're Not Alone

"What the hell was that?" I asked my brother.

"It looked like a dead person." Daryl stared at the walking monster he had just shot with his crossbow.

"Dead don't walk, dumbass." Merle stood behind us as we observed the monster. Daryl was the first to take a step forward. Merle did not move from his position as I followed close behind Daryl, ready to have my brother's back in case anything went down.

"Look," he pointed to the dead thing. "That is a freakin' person. He just tried to attack you, Air."

"No shit! That sumbitch tried to bite me."

"Oh, shut the hell up, Ariel. You complain too God damn much." Furiously, I turned towards Merle to give him a good beating.

"At least I ain't no little bitch, standing behind my younger brother and sister!" My arm flung. It was about an inch from Merle's mouth, when Daryl jolted me back.

"'Member last time you tried that, he nearly killed you." He held his arms around my built stomach. "Now can the both of you calm the hell down so we can figure out what exactly is goin' on?"

Merle stared into my glaring blue eyes with a grin upon his lips. "Yeah, can we little sista?"

"Whatever. Just let me go," I demanded. Daryl released me and continued his investigation. I wasn't in the mode to stick around and hear about his findings. I stormed off, more dramaticly then usual.

"Ariel, get your ass back here," Merle called.

Without taking another look at them, I shouted, "Screw both of ya'll."

_Two week later_

"Listen, we need a stable place to stay. We can't just keep running through the forest. Those crazy ass things are everywhere."

"And where we gonna go?" Daryl snapped at me.

Merle chuckled when I jumped back slightly. "You are as weak as him," said Merle as he pointed to Daryl.

"Will you just go and get the hell outta here. You ain't an asset. You're gonna get us all killed." Merle and I never got along very well. He never liked the fact that he had a sister. He didn't have any respect for women and thought they should be in the kitchen all day or pleasing him when he wanted it. Since I refused to stay in the house for even a second and there was no way in hell I would do anything to please him, he hated me. I loved to show him up when I would kill a deer and all he could get was a squirrel. That really sent him over the edge.

"Well, I vote we find a place that got a lot of ass. I need to get me some."

"Fucking disgusting," was all I could manage to say.

"Merle, will you please get your damn mind outta the gutter so we can come up with something. And Air," Daryl was the only one to call me by that nickname. "Leave him alone. Why can't you guys just cut this crap out?" Merle and I have been going at it nonstop since the beginning of the outbreak. Daryl was starting to lose his patience with the both of us.

Daryl walked ahead, keeping his crossbow ready to fire. He was the best tracker in Georgia and knew these woods better then anyone. It all looked the same to me. All I could see was different shades of green that were brighter when the sun shown through the roof of the trees. Daryl was able to find smaller things more significant. To me, it felt as if we were traveling in circles, but I trusted Daryl's instincts better then my own.

Finally, Daryl put his hand up, signaling us to stop. He began to walk slowly, cautiously towards the edge of the trees. I readied my gun and followed pursuit. It was at that moment when I realized that we had found something I thought I would never lay my eyes on again. Not that I was too happy about seeing this but at least I knew the world hadn't completely ended. People were carrying out their lives in a small little community outside of the city. There were men, women, children. The whole nine yards. Civilization still existed.

I lowered my fire arm. Daryl still had his up. He didn't seem as surprised as I had been. Looking back at Merle, I spoke quietly, not wanting the people to hear us. "Lower your guns, you idiots. They have children in there." Daryl obeyed quickly but Merle was a different story.

"Look, I ain't got to listen to you. Just 'cause you're my sister doesn't mean I can't hit you." His threats were nothing new to me.

"Merle, shut the hell up and listen to her for once in your life." Daryl was beyond pissed at this point. "There's children in there, dumbass."

Merle thought to himself for a brief second, then lowered the gun reluctantly. "Well we ain't gonna stay here, are we? We can just take the shit we need and get out."

"Use your brain, asshole. We can't just hold them at gunpoint. There's more of them then us. Meybe this is our chance to survive. Maybe we can stay here and live with other people." I tried to insist to Merle that this could be the best thing to happen to us.

He had become even more pissed then before. He was no longer quiet. "Well then-"

Merle's bitching was cut off by a woman who called, "Shane. Shane I hear something." Merle's hissy fit had given us away. We had all fallen silent, hoping that they wouldn't bother to listen to her.

A man responded to the woman's cries. "What? What did you hear?" He ran over to the woman who made the complaint as fast as he could go. Something about him intrigued me. He was a rather large man with broad shoulders. His muscles were pressed against his plain gray t-shirt and his head wore a police baseball cap. Under the cap was what appeared to be curly, dark hair. This was the man I assumed was Shane.

I stepped forward, as if I was attracted to him like a magnet. Daryl grabbed my arm. "Air, what the hell are you doin'?" I jerked away and took a few more steps until I was out in the sunlight, out in the open.

Shane stared at me. He seemed to be speechless at first. I didn't know what to say either. After an awkward silence, Shane finally spoke. "Shane Walsh." He walked toward me with his right hand out.

I took his hand and shook it firmly. "Ariel Dixon." Again there was silence. He stared into my eyes and didn't release my hand. My eyes were fixed on his as well. The dark chocolate coloring in them made my soul melt. The stillness was then broken when Daryl emerged from the bushes.

"Daryl Dixon," Daryl said with his hand held out. This was very unusual. Daryl wasn't the kind to do this sort of thing. "I'm her brother."

Shane grabbed his hand. "Shane." He introduced himself again.

I was in some sort of trance but I still manage to speek. "Our brother Merle is over there. He ain't much of a people person." That was when Merle came out into the open. "We were lookin' for a place to stay. You have any room?" I could feel that Daryl and Merle weren't happy with my question, but I couldn't care less. We needed something like this.

"Yeah. You can set up where ever you like," Shane said with a smile. "When ya'll are ready I'll introduce you to the rest of the group."

"Thank you." My eyes still hadn't left his.

"No problem. Do you guys need help setting up?"

"No, we got it." Daryl had a harsh tone in his voice. I was definately, with no doubt, going to hear about this later.

Daryl, Merle, and I set up our tent. We only had one, so Daryl had to sleep in between Merle and me. Otherwise, things would get ugly.

Once the tent was up, we grabbed our stuff and started to pack it inside. "That Shane guy couldn't keep his eyes off you, baby sister." Merle had the worst timing to bring up stupid shit like this.

"Piss off, Merle."

"Don't tell me to piss off. You couldn't stop looking at him either. You two want each other." Merle began to make his sex noises to try to push my buttons.

"Jesus Christ, Merle. Give it a rest." Daryl really was as tired as I was with Merle's bull. "And you," Daryl turned to me. What the hell? I didn't do anything this time. "You stay away from him. There's something off with him and you ain't got to be part of it. Merle was right. The way he looked at you made me want to punch him in the face. Now you keep away from him, understand?"

I was slightly offened by the way that Daryl was treating me right now. "Daryl, I ain't no child. If I want to talk to him, I will. He seems fine to me."

"I don't care what he seems like to you. I just care about your life. For some reason, I feel like he would end yours." Daryl's explanation stunned me. "Promise me you will stay away from him."

Daryl's explanation gave me no choice. "Yeah I promise. But if he comes over to me and starts talkin', I'm not gonna risk them kicking us out because I ignored him. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it." Silence fell between the three of us, while we finished unpacking. It was a rare occasion. Merle usually had something stupid to say, but didn't.

Shortly after we were done unpacking, we decided that it was a good time to meet people. Before we headed out, Merle stooped us. "Don't get too close to these people. Once we been here long enough, we're gonna rob this place blind and get the hell out." Instead of arguing, I nodded in agreement.


	2. Chapter 2: Overprotective

I was the first to exit our tent, but Daryl rushed to my side. "You are way too over protective, man."

"I'd rather be by you while you meet these people. We don't know them. They might be psychos for all we know." He handed me my hunting knife. "You left this in the tent."

"No shit, Sherlock. I don't want them to think we're the pyschos." I quickly swiped the knife out of his hand and shoved it in my back pocket. "Now please be normal. I really want to stay here."

"Whatever." Daryl took only a few steps when he stopped in his tracks. "Oh shit."

"What?" My eyes searched for why he showed concern. That is when I saw him. Shane was heading our way with a smile on his face. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Remember what I told you. Stay away from him." I ignored Daryl. He was such a pain sometimes.

"Hey. Ya ready to meet everyone." Shane didn't look at Daryl for a second. I was all he could look at.

"Yeah. We are. Merle won't be joining us 'cause he's doing God knows what." Shane chuckled at my remark. Is it a bad thing to like making him laugh? My face began to burn up. It was hard to tell if I was blushing or it was the heat I felt when Daryl glared at me.

"That's okay. Follow me." Shane introduced us to every member of the group. Daryl stayed perfectly silent, keeping his cool. I talked only when needed, trying not to piss off Daryl.

During this adventure, I discovered the women who found us in the woods. Her name was Lori. She had a son, Carl. Shane appeared to be living with them. Dammit, they must be married. I felt my heart crush. Why was I hurt so bad by this? I didn't know them.

Once the introductions were done, Shane brought us back to our tent. Daryl walked in first. What a silly move. This was the perfect time. "Well that was nice."

"Yeah, it was," Shane's brown eyes stared into mine.

"So how long have you and Lori been married?"

"Oh, we're not married. Her husband was a good friend of mine and he passed. I saved them." There was pain in his eyes. He must have really missed his friend.

"I'm sorry." I looked to the ground. The feeling of stupidity was spread from head to toe.

"Don't be. I know that's what he would have wanted."

"That's very good of you."

"Yeah, I guess." I was about to ask him about the guessing part of his sentence when Daryl popped out of the tent.

"What the hell are you doin'?" He was pissed.

"Just talkin' to Shane, Daryl. Jesus, can't you just leave me the fuck alone?" He never let me do anything I wanted. It was time to put an end to this crap he pulled.

"What did I tell ya?"

"Ya know what? I don't remember and I don't care." I knew I was slowly losing this battle but I had to keep trying. I wasn't going to allow this anymore.

"Ariel, get your ass in that god damn tent!" This was the time to back off. He never called me by my real name. I only remembered him doing that once or twice since the world went to shit. Both times he was extremely mad and I payed for it for days on end.

"You know," Shane interjected, "if she doesn't want to go in, she doesn't have to." There was fire in Daryl's eyes. I had to stop this before it became a full out brawl.

"Shane, it's okay." I pushed my hands against his chest, trying to back him off as he stepped forward towards Daryl. I could tell he was a strong man based on the way his body felt. His pecks were rock hard. This was not the time to get distracted. "It would be better for all of us if I just went in with him. I'll catch up with you later."

He looked down at me in shock. "Are you sure?"

No. "Yes I'm sure." I turned and walked in the tent with Daryl close behind. He didn't say a word. He stared at me, his face a mixture of anger and utter disappointment. It pained me to know that he was this upset. It did piss me off that he wanted to run my life, but he was still my brother.

Finally, he spoke. "You've got to be fuckin' kiddin' me. I know your options are limited, but him."

I needed to find a way around this. Lying seemed smart. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

It was impossible to get anything by Daryl. "Bullshit. I heard you flirtin' with him. And what a shitty job at that one."

"You heard that?" Great. That means Merle heard it too. He was sitting on the ground, listening to every word. When this was over, it still wouldn't be. Merle would bring it up every chance he got.

"No shit! You were two feet outside of the tent. Asking about that braud, that's priceless." My mouth fell open. Daryl could see the embarrassment plastured all over every inch of my face. He never liked to hurt me. He knew that's what he did. "Listen, Air," he stated, quietly. He was clearly trying to calm down. "I know you want your own life, but in this world, we need ya. I can't have ya runnin' around, screwin' the first dude ya see." My eyes widened and my mouth shut closed.

"What? Ya think I'm some sort of slut? Jesus Christ, Daryl! What the fuck is wrong with you? You're such an asshole." I grabbed all of my stuff in one swipe. "I'm sleepin' outside."

"Air, get back here." Daryl knew he said something wrong. He was in pain, but I didn't care. What he just said hurt me more then anything I could do to hurt him.

Before making my exit, I turned to him. "Go fuck yourself." On that note, I was out. I walked extrememly fast to the other side of camp and dropped everything. I didn't look back once to see if Daryl was following me or not. I tried not to let a tear fall. That would make my situation even worse. Dixons don't cry.

Being here was just hurting me. I grabbed my crossbow and set off into the woods. All of us Dixons knew how to use a crossbow. Daryl was the only one who really loved it more then anything. I just grabbed it incase I saw a walker.

While walking in the forest, I found the perfect tree to sit in and sleep. I wasn't planning on returning to that camp tonight. I climbed up and found a sturdy branch. I placed my crossbow on my lap, ready for anything.

God knows how long I was up there until I heard a twig snap. I lifted my crossbow. I was going to fire at whatever the hell it was, even Daryl. To my surprise, it wasn't an animal, Daryl, or any good for nothing walker.


	3. Chapter 3: Ain't The Type

"What the hell are you doing out here by yourself and why do you have that bow pointed at me?" Shane walked over to the base of the tree and looked up at me.

"It's not the first time I've been out on my own." I didn't want to meet his gaze. I knew that he would be disapproving of this. "As for the crossbow, I thought you was a walker."

"Or Daryl?"

I huffed. "That too."

"Why don't ya come down here to talk? Looking up at you like this isn't good for my neck." I looked down to see how silly his face looked. It wasn't silly at all. He was pleading me to come down.

"Fine." I stood up and climbed down. At about three feet from the ground, I felt his hands wrap around my waist. He secured me from falling. I wonder if he knew that I could have got down by myself. I thanked him anyway. Might as well be polite.

"So what's up with you and your brother?" I had hoped he wanted to talk about something enitrely different. Daryl was right. I am no good at this.

I swung my bow over my right shoulder. "If that's what you want to talk 'bout, then we ain't gonna do much talkin'." I headed back to camp. Shane was hot on my tracks.

"Alright, we can talk about something else then." He paused and thought for a minute. "So it's just you and your brothers then?"

"Yup." I didn't look at him or ask him anything about himself. I just kept my speedy pace back to camp.

"Well what about your parents?" I stopped. This topic was even worse then the first.

"Listen, I ain't the type to talk about shit like that. Me and my brothers keep to ourselves." I was becoming slightly angery. The Dixon temper was setting in. I tried to keep it under control. It is way too hard, but I managed. "I just want to go back to camp."

"Where are you gonna stay?" He seemed to know more then he should have.

"Outside." One word answers was another Dixon thing. We didn't talk much to other people. I just wish that Merle would do that more to Daryl and me. It would be fantastic if he would shut the hell up sometime. Why did Shane care where I was staying anyway?

"Nonsense. You can stay in my tent." He stared at me with a grin on his face. That was drawing the line a bit.

My feet began to carry me back to the camp again. Without facing him I replied, "I'd rather not." I could have swore I saw he was sharing a tent with that Lori chick and her kid.

"Come on. You shouldn't be out here, exposed like that." God, he sounded like a nicer version of Daryl. That was ten times worse. My anger management failed and I burst.

"Listen, I don't need you or my brotha tellin' me how to live. If I want to, I'll sleep outside. I can defend myself. Just 'cause I'm a woman, doesn't mean I'm totally helpless. Thanks, but no thanks Shane. I'll take my chances." The anger forced me back to the camp, not looking back once to see his reaction. There was no reason for me to care if I hurt his feelings or not. I didn't know this guy.

I made my sleeping bag as comfortable as possible. I still couldn't sleep. I grabbed my crossbow and set out for the woods once again. I could handle this place in the night better then in the day. The peace helped calm my rage. This is a place where I will not be bothered by people who didn't know me at all. That included both Shane and Daryl.

That night, I didn't stop to rest. I couldn't risk the thought of either men in my head. I killed five squirrles. In my rage, I didn't grab any rope, so I had to carry them with my bare hands. The sun was beginning to rise. This was the best time to head back to camp. Everyone would be beginning to wake so neither Shane or Daryl would want to cause a scene.

Before I was even thirty feet from camp, Daryl found me. "What the fuck do ya think you're doin'?"

"I went huntin'." I walked past him, running into his shoulder.

Daryl grabbed my arm and pulled me back to look at him. "Why ya always gotta run off like that? You can never talk shit through."

"Really? I can never talk shit through?" How dare he? He was just as bad as I was. "You are such a fuckin' hypocrit."

"Can ya please calm down for two seconds." My gaze settled on him. I gave him the 'go on' look. I didn't have time to be waiting. "Listen, I get that ya want your own life. I just don't trust this Shane guy. I ain't that stupid. I know you're gonna ignore me and talk to him anyway. I don' care. Just, Air, please be careful." His eyes were pleading me to listen.

I sighed loudly. "Alright. Ya win. I'll be careful."

He smiled lightly, knowing he had defeated me. "Good. I know ya already went huntin' but ya wanna come wit me? Get away from everthin'. Especially Merle. That sumbitch is drivin' me crazy."

How could I resist time away from Merle? "Anythin' to get away from that asshole." We continued on through the forest when it occured to me, "Should we really leave 'em with those people. Ya don' really know what he'll end up doin'."

"Don' worry. Got that covered," Daryl answered without looking at me.

"And how is that, exactly?"

"He went off with a few of 'em to the city for a run." I stared at Daryl in disbelief. "He volunteered."

"No way in hell. Merle don't do shit for nobody."

"He isn' goin' for nobody." Figures.

"What's he gettin' outta it?"

"Merle went lookin' for a liquor store." What a druken bastard. All well, at least we don't have to worry about him. Well, I never really did. At least Daryl doesn't have to worry about him.

"Good. I hope he gets bit." Eaten sounded too harsh. Being bit, he would suffer for all the shit he put Daryl and me through.

"Hey, don't say that." Daryl grabbed my arm again. This time he was more pissed. "He may be an ass but he's our brother."

"Whatever." I jerked my arm away from his grasp. From that point on, silence. This was something I loved about Daryl. When we went hunting, he would be totally concentrated and wouldn't bother me. It was like this for about two days until we went back to camp.

**A/N Sorry this chapter is kinda short. I had bit of a writer's block. Hope you're enjoying it so far. Please review. I absolutely love them. It helps me become a better author with all of your opinions.**


	4. Chapter 4: Where's Our Brother

Daryl had been tracking a deer for at least three miles. We were about a hundred feet away from it when Daryl finally had a clear shot. He fired his crossbow twice, hitting the deer and taking it down. We started to walk towards where the deer had fallen, when we heard screetches coming from the same direction. It sound like the children.

I started to run and Daryl followed pursuit. Daryl ended up getting to our kill first. He slowed for some reason, causing me to slow as well. I noticed there were several group members hanging around the deer. Looking down, there was a rotting head two feet away from my toes. There had been a walker in the area and it took a large chunk out of our freshly killed deer.

"Son of a bitch! That's my deer," Daryl complained. "Look at it all gnawed on by this filthy, disease-barin', motherless, poxy bastard." Daryl struck the lifeless body several times with his foot. My brother was on a war path. It was best not to intervene. All of our hardwork was wasted. I was equally as pissed, but I refused to show it as much as Daryl.

"C'mon son. That's not helping." Dale was trying to keep the peace, but it was a mistake. Daryl marched over to him and get in his face.

"What do you know old man? Why don't ya take that stupid hat and go back to On Golden Pond?" Daryl didn't wait for Dale's reaction. He walked back over to the deer and observed the bite. "What ya think? Do ya think that we could cut around the bitten part?" He looked up to Shane who told him that they couldn't risk putting the group in such a danger. Daryl calmed down slightly and pulled the two arrows out of the side of the deer. "Well that's a damn shame. We were gonna drag this back to camp and cook us up some venison."

"We got some squirrel. That will have to do." I looked over and smiled at the group. We tried our best. "C'mon." I called over to Daryl.

He began to follow me and so did the rest of the group. That is until the head began to start moving. "C'mon people what the hell?" Daryl aimed his crossbow at it and shot it in the right eye. "Gotta shoot it in the head. Don't ya'll know nothin'?" I pulled the arrow out its head and handed it over to Daryl. He nodded his thanks and we continued back to camp.

Daryl called out for Merle. Why must he ruin a good trip by calling for Merle? When Merle didn't respond, I first thought he was passed out somewhere or playing some stupid prank on us. That wasn't the case. "Daryl, Ariel, can I talk to you?" Shane walked toward Daryl and me. He was concerned about something.

"What?" Daryl asked. He still didn't want me talking to Shane.

"There was a... a situation in Atlanta." Shit. Did he actually die? I felt like shit right there. I wished him dead and I got exactly that.

"He dead?" Daryl stood montionless. It was like he expected this to happen.

"Not sure." Wait. What?

"What ya mean ya ain't sure?" I was furious. Daryl and I deserved a straight answer and that was not what we were getting.

"Either he is or he ain't." For once, Daryl didn't care that I was talking to Shane. He could tell that I was on his side for this.

"This isn't easy, so I'm just gonna say it." A man that I had never seen, approched us. He was wearing a dingy, white shirt and jeans. His hands were on his hips. It was easy to tell that he meant buisness.

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl was beyond pissed. He didn't know this man either. He stepped infront of me, just to be safe. I was able to handle my own, but Daryl was always overprotective.

The man introduced himself. "Rick Grimes."

The people around us were able to feel the irratation flowing from Daryl and me. They all seemed to back away. "Rick Grimes. you got somethin' you wanna tell us?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all." What a surprise. "So I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

I was shocked. "You what?" No one would ever have the guts to do such a thing to Merle. When he got out they better watch their backs.

"Hold on. Let me process this" Daryl started to pace. This was a sure fire sign of him getting ready to blow. I was about to as well. "You sayin' you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there!"

All Rick could do was look at us. "Yeah."

"Yeah? That's all you can say?" I stood there. What could I do?

Daryl charged at Rick. Shane tackled him to the ground. Daryl got back up quickly and pulled out his hunting knife. "Daryl, dammit. Put the knife away." He didn't listen. Daryl slashed at Rick and Shane. Daryl was no match against the two men. They were able to get the knife out of his hand and bring him to the ground. Shane had him in a choke hold. I could tell that Daryl couldn't breathe. "Hey, let him go." They refused to obey. I charged, just as Daryl did. I didn't let anyone screw with my family.

Before I could get a hold on Shane or Rick, two arms wraped around me, pulling me back. "Let me go, T-Dog." I kicked and nearly screamed but his hold was tight.

"You best let us go," Daryl threatened.

"Nah, I think it's better if we don't." Shane held onto him tight and wouldn't budge. He looked at me, seeing the fire in my eyes.

"Choke holds illegal." Daryl was trying everything with the once upon a time cop.

"Yeah, file a complaint." If there was still a police force, trust me, we would.

Rick stood between the two of us. "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic." His voice was soft and even. "Do you think we can manage that?" I nodded in complience after he repeated his question. Rick gestured T-Dog to let me go.

"C'mon man," I said to Daryl. I was panting from all of the fighting. Daryl nodded and Shane released him. Daryl fell to the ground, trying to grasp the air. I knelt by him to make sure he was alright.

I looked at Rick as he spoke to Daryl and me. "What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others."

"That's the understatement of the year." I stood up, knowing my remark was heard by everyone in the camp. Daryl was probably pissed off at me, but his rage for what happened to Merle was more intense.

T-Dog was standing behind me, making sure that I didn't make any rash decisions. He also was involved in this. "It's not Rick fault. I had the key. I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl was still on the ground. His anger was boiling and ready to overflow.

"Well I dropped it in a drain."

"Fucking perfect," I mumbled under my breath. T-Dog was the only person who heard. He shifted his weight, feeling horrible for what he did.

Daryl finally picked himself off the ground. He was ready to leave and go off into the woods somewhere. That was a Dixon thing. Go to the woods and get your head straight. "If that's supposed to make me feel better, it don't," he shouted as he began walking away.

T-Dog still had information to give, causing Daryl to stay and listen. "Look I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him, with a padlock." Well at least theres a chance he might be alive. He could have sun stroke and major dehydration but he wouldn't be fighting walkers with one hand. Maybe this will give Merle some time to think about where his life decsions are taking him.

Daryl wasn't quite as pleased with this as I was. All he wanted to do was find Merle and get the fuck out. "Hell with all of ya'll. Just tell me where he is, so I can go get him." He was damn sure that I wasn't risking my life to save Merle. There was no way in hell that I was going to go into that disease infested city, trying to find the asshole who makes this new life so much worse then it should be.

Lori surpirsed both Daryl and me when she finally spoke up. "He'll show you." She was showing some hostility towards Rick. She didn't want him helping us with shit. I wonder why she cared what this guy did anyway. "Isn't that right?"

More and more surprises came along with Rick. It was like a package deal with him. "I'm going back." Rick was going to voluntarily risk his life to save Merle's.


	5. Chapter 5: Battle To Leave Or Stay

"You're goin'." Daryl was in no mood to be arguing about going to get Merle. He was definately going to risk his life for him and he wanted me to join the party.

"No, I'll stay here. He don't need both of us to get his stupid ass." I'd rather stay and talk to the other group members. They were a hell of a lot nicer then Merle.

"He's our brother and I ain't askin' no more. You're comin'." I knew that there was more to this. Daryl would normally never ask me to go out and get Merle. This had something to do with the fact that Shane was also staying behind to protect the group. He still didn't want me to have any associtation with the man, especially since their small quarell.

This was a battle that I would not be able to win. I gave in after a few moments of silence. "Whatever. He fuckin' owes me."

"That's the spirit." Daryl smiled at me, trying to seem funny. "Now go get your shit and get ready."

I put my hand up to my forehead and saluted him. "Yes sir."

"Fuck you." Before letting me leave, Daryl placed his hand on my shoulder. "When we get back, I'm gonna get the truck and the bike." He was reffering to his blue truck and Merle's motorcycle. We had parked it somewhere on the highway when all hell broke loose. It had some stuff that we could use, like our hunting knives. We each had one, but there were more in Daryl's truck.

"See, now that's somethin' that I'll go get willingly." I smiled to make Daryl think I was kidding.

"Whatever, just go get ready." He pushed me away to make me start walking.

I grabbed my knife and was basically ready. It wasn't much, but it was all I needed to survive. I marched back over to Daryl. "Done."

He was sitting by the fire pit, cleaning his arrows. "So this is what ya do with your time? Make us do all the work." I smiled down at my brother. He was too agrivatated to join in on the joking. He stood up and grabbed a bottle of water and took a sip. He offered me some. "I'm good." He took another drink.

The raised voice of Shane brought my attention to him and Rick walking up the small hill. "Could you through me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?"

"Hey." I was the only one aloud to call my brother a douche bag. He may be one, but Merle still is my brother. I may have agreed with Shane, but Merle is blood. The Dixon family protect blood.

"Choose your words more carefully," Daryl warned. This was expected of Daryl. He was more of the one to pick a fight over Merle.

"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant." Shane ignored any further response that either Daryl or I gave.

Daryl looked over at me. I could see it in his eyes. He wanted to slit Shane's throut for calling Merle a douche bag. I shook my head slightly at him, warning him that is was a bad idea.

"Merle Dixon. The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst." Shane was giving his all to not allow Rick to join us in our search. I could see Shane's point, but Rick did put Merle up there. It was his responsibility to help us get him back.

Rick saw it the same way that I did. "What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thrist, me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being." Believe it or not, Merle was human.

"So you, Daryl, and Ariel? That's your plan?" Lori was really starting to get on my nerves. She had to put her nose into everything. I don't care if Rick was her husband. He's a big boy and can take care of himself.

Rick looked over at Glenn, asking with his eyes for Glenn to join us on our journey. "You know the way," Rick explained. "You've been there before, in and out, no problem. You said so yourself." Glenn was the smart and speedy one when it came to a trip like this. He would help us be able to get Merle and go home in no time. Rick continued pleading with the young man. "It's not fair of me to ask. I know that. But I'd feel a lot better with you along." He pointed to Lori. "I know she would too."

Without waiting to hear Glenn's answer, Shane was at Rick's throut again. "That's just great. Now you're gonna risk four men, huh?" Thanks for calling me a man, dipshit.

"Five." T-Dog was also volunteering to join us in our quest for Merle Dixon. I was glad T-Dog decided to tag along. He had the muscle and was really nice.

Daryl didn't see it my way. "My day just gets better and better, don't it?"

I elbowed him in his side. "Daryl," I hissed.

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's craker ass?" T-Dog was right. Daryl should appreciate T-Dog's assistance. We could most certainly use it when going into the disease infested city. This was something Daryl was unable to comprehend.

"Why you?" Daryl questioned.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language." Don't take it the wrong way T-Dog. Daryl doesn't understand anyone's language except for his, mine, and Merle's. Well, most of Merle's. Daryl didn't let anyone in so there was no need to learn any other ways of thinking.

"That's five," Dale was counting us all up.

Shane didn't want anyone to leave. He was determined to come up with anything to make us all stay. "It's not just five." Shane was facing Rick, anger coursing though his veins. His voice was picking up speed. "You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp."

Rick kept his cool, seeing a simple solution to a complex problem. "It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns." Guns? Where the hell are we going to get more guns? Every place in Atlanta had been ransacked and every working piece was gone.

Glenn seemed to be well informed of these magic guns Rick was referring to. "Right, the guns."

Every group member was thinking it, but Shane was the first to say it. "Wait. What guns?"

Rick listed them all. "Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns." Holy shit. "I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sittin' there on the street, waitin' to be picked up."

"Ammo?" Shane asked.

"700 rounds, assorted." Jesus. That's perfect. Hit two birds with one stone. Guns and another able body at camp. We will be stronger then ever.

Shane even took a step back and took it all in. That's a lot and he knew it. Lori on the other hand, didn't. "You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?"

This women was really starting to set me off. I shifted my weight from side to side, resisting the urge to punch her in the face. She was holding us back from finding Merle and getting the guns and coming back right away. She was going on and making us waste precious daylight. Daryl could see my discomfort. He placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping my relentless swaying.

"To hell with the guns. Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with the guns thrown in." The only thing that stopped me from hitting her was Daryl and her little boy. He didn't want his father to leave once again. I felt sympathy for Carl. I really did. I could relate to his pain.

Lori demanded that Rick make her understand why he would risk himself for Merle. I kind of wanted an explanation myself. "I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy. Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all." That was his answer. Heart warming, really.

"What's stopping you?"

"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer."

"These our walkies?" Shane knew something about Rick's problem.

"Yeah," he answered.

"So use the CB. What's wrong with that?" Andrea asked.

Shane seated himself on the front bumper of his jeep. "The CB's fine. It's the walkies that suck to crap. Date back to the '70's, don't match any other bandwidth, not even the scanners in our cars." Well that's just our luck.

"I need that bag." Rick was begging his wife to let him go. He even made sure that it was alright with his son as well. Carl nodded. Rick patted him on the head and began preparing to go to Atlanta.

We were going to use the box truck that Rick and the others had found during the last Atlanta trip. It was large enough for all five of us to fit and Merle too.

Before heading to the truck, where Daryl anxiously waited, I grabbed a rag that he had left on the ground an started wiping my knife. It had been a while since I used it, but I liked to keep it in very good condition. When I was finished, I put the knife in its holder on my shorts and put the rag in my pocket. I was going to return it to Daryl when Shane stood in my path. "Do you really have to go too?"

"Yeah, I do." I tried to go around him, but he blocked me.

"They should be able to handle it." His hands were on his hips and his full weight was on his left.

"He's my brother. As much as he is a dick, he's blood. I don't give up on blood." I really didn't want to go, but this was my true motto in this life. I did anything to protect the only family that I had left. It did suck that that family included Merle, but still. Blood is blood. Why did I need to explain this to him anyway? He nearly killed Daryl in that chokehold earlier. I shouldn't be wasting my time with him.

I tried my best to go around him, but every way I went, he followed. "Can ya move? I got shit to do." His game was pissing me off and this time, I refuse to hold back.

"Listen, just be careful, okay? I know you can take care of yourself, but you're not just doing that." This got my full attention. "You have your brother's and the other group members' along with ya. Just please come back in one piece." Why did he care for my safety so much?

Instead of asking, I nodded. "Okay. Don't worry, I'll be back and I'll bring everyone safetly with me." I hit his shoulder playfully. "Stop worryin' so damn much. I got this." He smiled at me and grabbed my arm, pulling in for a hug. "Oh, okay." I was shocked that he would even attempt to do this with Daryl near. I could feel his eyes on us, burning judgments into our backs.

Once Shane released me, I put my hand on his shoulder and nodded. I wanted to tell him that I enjoyed our hug and I couldn't wait to have another when I returned, but the words were taken from me when Daryl kicked the horn of the truck. "Come on, let's go!" Daryl was always an impatient man. I took my hand away from Shane's shoulder and made my way over to the truck.

"Okay. Jesus, Daryl, calm the hell down," I shouted as I walked. Shane followed, but it wasn't for me. He needed to talk to Rick about something.

Daryl helped me climb into the back of the van, but didn't release my arm when I was in. He pulled me over to the far corner by the driver's seat. "What the hell was that?" he whispered.

"Nothing. He just said goodbye." This Shane thing was really starting to irratate me. Daryl was forced to drop the subject, though when Rick entered the truck.

"Let's go," Rick stated simply. With that, Daryl closed the back and Glenn began to drive. Our pursuit of Merle Dixon had officially begun.


	6. Chapter 6: Bloody Trail

"He better be okay. That's my only word on the matter." Daryl was threatening T-Dog as we traveled back to the city to find Merle.

"Daryl, shut up." I was sitting in the opposite corner of my brother, sitting next to T-Dog. I don't blame T-Dog and Rick for what they did. It was time that Daryl did the same.

"I told you the geeks can't get at him." T-Dog was becoming annoyed by Daryl's constant complaining. He was tired of explaining himself over and over again. "The only thing that's gonna get through that door is us."

The truck stopped. We weren't at our destination yet. Glenn cut the engine. "We walk from here."

Daryl quickly opened the back and was the first to jump out. He was in such a hurry, like always.

T-Dog gave me a hand up from the floor and followed Daryl out. I was the last to leave, putting me behind the rest. They jogged ahead as I followed close behind. The sun was going down and there was no way I was going to be caught in this part of town alone at night.

After about a mile of running, Glenn finally stopped and lead us through an opening in the fence.

"Merle first or the guns?" asked Rick.

"Merle!" Daryl shouted. "We ain't even havin' this conversation." Daryl was right. Wasn't a human's life more important then guns?

"We are." Rick turned back to Glenn. "You know the geography. It's your call."

"Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back," Glenn explained. Good call or he would have had two angry Dixons on his hands and that wouldn't have been a pretty sight. "Merle first."

Glenn lead us to the department store that he and the others went to for the run. A walker appeared from behind the counter and Rick signaled for us to stop and pointed in the walker's direction. Daryl stalked it and raised his crossbow. It began to approach him when Daryl said, "Damn. You are one ugly skank." With that, he pulled the trigger and shot an arrow into the skull of the used-to-be woman. He quickly pulled the arrow out of its head and we continued on.

The five of us climbed the stairway, trying to move as fast as possible. Once we finally reached the top, T-Dog cut the chain and opened the door. Daryl was the first to run out. He grabbed my arm and pulled me along. His grip tightened when we discovered Merle was gone. "No! No!" he screamed. He tried to hide the tears, but it wasn't worth it.

Merle had cut off his hand with one of Dale's tools that T-Dog had dropped during their escape. All that was left of our brother was his hand and a bloody trail.

I put my hand to my forehead and sat down on the pipes. "Dammit." Daryl still didn't release me. My hand was turning red from his tight grip. "Daryl." I spoke quietly. He looked down at me as I eyed my hand. He let it go reluctantly.

Glenn, T-Dog, and Rick walked down behind Daryl. In his rage, Daryl pointed the crossbow at T-Dog's head for allowing this to happen to our brother. Before he had time to pull the trigger, Rick pointed his gun at Daryl's face.

I stood up quickly, putting a hand on Daryl's shoulder. I walked and planted my feet inbetween Rick and Daryl. "Guys, Jesus." Both men ignored me.

"I won't hesitate. I don't care if every walker in the city hears it." Rick held a firm grip on his gun and a straight face. He was serious. One wrong move and Daryl would be joining our dead parents.

"Daryl, put it down." I was desperate. I couldn't lose him too. He was all I had left in this shitty world.

After a moment of thought, Daryl put it down. Rick pulled his gun away as well. The tension in the air had been released and I was able to breathe knowing Daryl or anyone else, wasn't dying today.

Daryl turned to T-Dog. "You got a do-rag or somethin'?" T-Dog slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue rag. He handed it to Daryl and he took it happily. Putting down his crossbow, Daryl bent down and grabbed Merle's hand. "I guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs." He brought it up to eye level. "Ain't that a bitch." He folded the rag around the hand and motioned Glenn to come his way. Without speaking, Daryl dropped it in his bag.

After taking another look at the scene by his feet, Daryl shared his observations. "He must have used a tourniquet, maybe his belt. Be much more blood if he didn't."

"Okay, he did the smart thing. Now what?" I didn't care what we did next. All I needed was to get out of the sun. The heat was frying my skin like eggs on a pan.

Without responding, Daryl followed the blood that Merle dripped on his way back into the building. Rick signaled us to join Daryl. Before doing so, T-Dog retrieved the fallen tools.

Daryl and Rick were on high alert for walkers. Both men had their weapons up and ready. Coming to a stairway, Daryl called for Merle. "You in here?" No response.

We continued to make our way through the building. Rick and Daryl were infront. They had the best weapons to use incase we ran into trouble. It mad more sense that they were ahead of the rest of us. We came across a hallway with individual offices. Daryl went ahead and checked them for walkers. He had the quietest and fastest weapon.

We approached the main office space. There were two freshly dead walkers lying on the ground. "Had enough in him to take out these two sumbitches. One handed." Daryl wasn't at all surprised.

"Damn." That was the only word that left my lips. I was in total shock at what Merle had done with just one hand. He could do some serious damage if he needed to. As much of an ass he was, he sure knew how to survive a shit situtation like this.

Daryl decided to take this time to reload his crossbow. "Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother. Feed him a hammer he'd crap out nails." Daryl was correct. Merle was one tough son of a bitch.

"Any man can pass out from blood loss, no matter how tough he is." Rick was right, only we were talking about Merle. That man could do anything he set his mind to, even though most of the time his mind was set on stupid shit. Merle did know how to take care of himself.

Our search for Merle moved along as Daryl and Rick lead us out and into a medium sized office kitchen. Daryl called for Merle once again. Rick warned him to keep his voice down because we weren't alone.

"Screw that. He could be bleedin' out. You said so yourself." I had never seen Daryl worry this much over Merle. I mean Merle had skipped out before, but we both knew that he'd be back. This time, Daryl wasn't so sure. Honestly, neither was I.

The blood trail had brought us to a small flame on the stove. Merle's belt was sitting next to it. There was heavy blood around the handle of the oven below the stove. Rick picked up a piece of metal.

"Holy shit." It was one of the most disgusting things I had ever seen. I'm a Dixon and I've seen some gross shit, but that will probably haunt me in my dreams. Merle was the toughest man to endure such pain.

"What's that burned stuff?" Glenn asked Rick.

"Skin. He cauterized the stump." Jesus Christ. The pain he must have been in. I couldn't even imagine it. Rick and Daryl acted all cool about it. Glenn looked as if he was going to be sick. Daryl expected such actions from Merle. I did too, but it was still pretty nasty.

"Told ya he was tough." Daryl was slightly bragging about being so closely related to a brave man. "Nobody can kill Merle but Merle." That was also true. Merle could certainly handle himself.

"Don't take that on faith. He's lost a lot of blood." Rick was such a buzz-kill. Can't he be happy that the man he locked up on the roof is possibly still alive and was smart enough to save his own ass.

"Yeah? Didn't stop him from bustin' outta this death trap." Daryl walked over to a busted window that lead to the street.

Glenn was confused. "He left the building? Why the hell would he do that?"

"Why wouldn't he?" I asked. It was Merle. He didn't wait for shit.

"He's out there alone as far as he knows, doin' what he's gotta do. Survivin'." Daryl placed a hand on my shoulder as he walked by me. He was hurt that Merle was gone. I was all he had left. Daryl was all I had left now too.

"You call that survivng?" T-Dog questioned. "Just wandering out in the streets, maybe passing out? What are his odds out there?"

Daryl didn't appreciate T-Dog's questions. "No worse than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks." He turned his attention to Rick. "You couldn't kill him. Ain't so worried about some dumb dead bastard."

"What about a thousand dumb dead bastards?" Rick was refering to the dead things roaming the streets. "Different story?"

"Why don't you take a tally? Do what you want. I'm gonna go get him." Daryl took a step towards the smashed window.

"The hell you are," I shouted.

Rick put his hand on Daryl's chest and pushed him backwards. "Daryl, wait."

"Get you hands off me! You can't stop me." Daryl was determined to find his needle in a hay stack, but there was nothing we could do anymore. I needed him to stay with us.

Before I gave Daryl a piece of my mind, Rick stepped in. "I don't blame you. He's family, I get that. I went through hell to find mine. I know exactly how you feel. He can't get far with that injury. We could help you check a few blocks around but only if we keep a level head."

Daryl seemed to calm down and take in Rick's words. "I can do that." Ha. We'll see how long that lasts.

T-Dog agreed to join on one condition. "Only if we get those guns first. I'm not stolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?"

"No offense Daryl, but I won't neither." Daryl stared at me in shock. "Listen, I ain't gonna go down there without more protection then this." I pulled out my knife and showed it to him.

"Yeah, whatever." Daryl agreed to go and grab the guns. Someone needed to come up with a plan so we could get the guns, find Merle, and get the hell out of here before nightfall.


	7. Chapter 7: Jumped

"You're not doing this alone." Rick was taking to Glenn who was on the ground with a map of the city drawn with dry erase marker.

"Even I think it's a bad idea and I don't even like you much." Daryl was slumped over, trying to think about Glenn's plan. I had to agree. This was one of the most stupidest ideas I had ever heard.

"It's a good idea, okay, if you just hear me out." Rick knelt down beside Glenn as he demonstrated the plan on the map. "If we go out in a group, we're slow, drawing attention. If I'm alone, I can move fast. Look." He lifted a paper clip and placed it in the center of the drawing. "That's the tank, five blocks from where we are now." Glenn placed a crumpled post-it note next to clip. "That's the bag of guns." He looked up at Rick, pointing to an alley a block away from the guns. "Here's the ally I dragged you into when we first met. That's where Daryl, Ariel, and I will go."

"Why us?" Daryl asked.

Glenn pointed to Daryl then to me. "Your crossbow and your knife is quieter than his gun." Glenn brought his attention back to the map. "While Daryl and Ariel wait here in the alley, I run up the street, grab the bag."

"You got us elsewhere?" Rick questioned.

"You and T-Dog, right." Glenn took an eraser and placed it two blocks away from the bag and tank. "You'll be in this alley here.

"Two blocks away? Why?"

"I may not be able to come back the same way," Glenn explained. "Walkers might cut me off. If that happens, I won't go back to Daryl and Ariel. I'll go forward instead, all the way around to that alley where you guys are. Whichever direction I go, I got you in both places to cover me. Afterwards, we'll all meet back here."

"Hey, kid, what'd you do before all this?" Daryl asked, curiously. This kid sure knew this city pretty damn well.

"Delivered pizzas. Why?" Glenn didn't quite understand why it was important.

"Makes sense," I mumbled to myself.

After a short review of the plan, Glenn lead Daryl and I down to our postions. We covered Glenn as he was about to head out into the streets. "You got some balls for a Chinaman." If Daryl wanted people to think we weren't like Merle, he wasn't doing a very good job.

"I'm Korean," Glenn corrected.

"Whatever." And with that, Glenn was gone. He ran down the street to retrieve the bag of guns.

"Ya think he's gonna make it?" I asked my brother. I had doubts that this will work, but I trusted Glenn's skill.

"If he doesn't fuck up." Darly continued to stare ahead, making himself aware of his surroundings incase shit went south. I guess we kind of jinxed that one.

Daryl and I were sitting behind a garbage can when we heard someone walking near. It was easy to tell that it wasn't Glenn or any of our group members. It definately wasn't a walker. The steps were too light.

Daryl prepared his crossbow and I leaned back. He jumped up and aimed the weapon at the person's head. I stood up slowly, knife in hand. It was a younger man with a chain around his neck. He only looked to be about nineteen or twenty. He had a pot leaf tatooed on his neck. I could tell that this kid was going to be trouble. "Wooh, don't shoot me. What do you want?" the boy called.

"I'm looking for my brother. He's hurt real bad. You seen him?" Daryl figured that every person he's going to meet is going to know something about Merle's whereabouts.

Instead of sayin 'no' like a normal person, the young man yelled, "Ayudame!"

"Shut up!" Daryl demanded. This kid's neglagence is going to get us all killed. "You're gonna bring the geeks down on us. Answer me."

"Answer him!" I was tired of waiting for an answer.

The boy called the name again. "Ayudame! Ayudame! Ayudame!"

Daryl had enough of this kid's shouting. He hit him upside the head with his crossbow, knocking the kid onto the ground. The kid called for help and Daryl tried to silence him. "Shut up. Shup up."

Looking back through the gate, two men were running our way. "Shit, Daryl." I tried to get his attention, but it was too late. They came through the gate and one of the men punched me in my face causing me to stumble back into the wall. The other went after Daryl, kicking him off of the young man.

My grip tightened on my knife. I started slashing it at the man attacking me. He had a baseball bat and he swung it at my hand. He knocked the knife out of my hand, barely missing my fingers. His elbow connected with my jaw and his fist hit my stomach. I fell backward, hitting my head against the wall.

I was losing conciousness as the man joined his friend in beating the shit out out of Daryl. Glenn entered the alleyway with the bag. "Glenn, go," I managed to shout at him. He stopped abruptly as the men saw Glenn with the bag.

"That's it. That's the bag, vato. Take it! Take it!" Glenn tried to run as the men came after him. They wanted the guns. They caught up to Glenn and knocked him to the ground. I pulled all of my strength and got up, running to Glenn's assitance. The man with the bat saw me and called, "the girl! Watch out for the girl!"

I kicked the other in the stomach as he tried to grab the guns. After another attempt, the man caught my foot and pulled me down. He got on top of me and punched me at least three times in the face. I lost count as his fist connected with me head.

Glenn was screaming desperately for help. Daryl could see the trouble we were both in and grabbed his crossbow. He shot the man who was on top of me in the ass. The man got off of me and headed to the gate as Daryl reloaded.

A car approached and screetched to a hault. Looking up, the man with the bat was holding Glenn tightly. He screamed for Daryl's help as they dragged him out of the gate. Daryl managed to get off the ground, but was too late. The men shoved Glenn into a car and drove away as walkers chased them.

Daryl jumped on the gate. "Come back here, you sumbitches!" He wasn't able to go after the car due to the ever growing amount of geeks. He quickly pulled the gate closed.

Rick and T-Dog were running our way. Perfect timing. Couldn't have been twenty seconds faster?

The men left behind the boy. He stood up and Daryl pushed him away. "Whoa whoa whoa. Stop it." Rick tried to gain control of the situation.

Daryl was pissed for getting the shit kicked out of him. "I'm gonna kick your nuts up in your throut." He always came up with the strangest things to say when he was this pissed off.

"Let me go!" I looked over to the boy. T-Dog had his arm against him, holding him there.

"Chill out." T-Dog told him. He knew that this boy was in trouble and was only making it worse by resisting.

"They took Glenn." Rick tried to hold Daryl back from killing the kid. "That little bastard and his little bastard homie friends."

"Guys, a little help." I was still on the ground, not finding the strength to get up.

"Oh shit." Rick released Daryl and he pick me off of the hard ground. "Air, you alright?"

I put my hand up to my mouth. Looking at my hand, there was red dripping down my finger. "I'm bleeding. Those mother fuckers." Shit did that hurt.

Daryl examined me to make sure there was nothing else wrong with me. "Jesus, it looks like the back of your head is bleeding too." He placed his hand gently on the area to make sure. I hissed in pain. "Yup, definately hurt." Fire grew intesnsly in his eyes. Daryl tried to get the boy again screaming, "I'm gonna stomp your ass!" Rick pulled him back.

"Guys! Guys! We're cut off!" T-Dog was correct. Walkers heard the comotion and the only thing holding them from ripping us limb from limb was that gate.

"Get to the lab. Go," Rick instructed. T-Dog and I did as we were told, taking the child gang member with us.

We dragged him and threw him into a chair. I looked down at him. "I should kick your ass right here, right now." T-Dog put a hand on my shoulder, pulling me away before I could do any damage.

"You should sit down. I'll find you something you could use to get the blood off." T-Dog just moved an inch when Daryl and Rick came running in.

Daryl was clearly still upset. "You son of a bitch. Look at what you and your assholes did to my sister." Rick had to restrain him once again.

"Daryl. Daryl, she's alright. You gotta calm down." Rick used a soothing voice. Daryl listened and made his way to me.

"How ya doin'?" His face was red but turning white quickly. Daryl had finally started breathing again.

"Fine." The only thing that truly hurt was the back of my head. I was probably concussed and the bleeding continued. T-Dog handed me a rag he had found and I placed it on the wound. It stung for a second, then the pain soothed.

Rick had begun to question the kid. "Those men you were with, we need to know where they went."

This kid was trying to act tough. "I ain't tellin you nothing."

"Jesus, man. What the hell happened back there?" T-Dog asked Daryl.

"I told you, this little turd and his douche bag friends came outta nowhere and jumped us." Daryl had begun pacing. He usually did this when he was trying to calm down. It worked most of the time. I had a feeling that now it would fail horribly today.

"You're the one who jumped me, puto, screaming about trying to find his brother like it's my damn fault." The boy rubbed the side of his head. Must have been where Daryl punched him. Good. I hope it hurt like hell.

"They took Glenn. Could have taken Merle too." I doubted that they knew squat about Merle, but Daryl insisted on trying.

"Merle? What kind of a hick name is that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle." That was the final straw for Daryl. He again went after the boy. Lucky for him, Rick was standing in the way.

"Damn it, Daryl. Back off." Rick pushed him away.

Daryl wasn't the only one getting tired of this kid's shit. I was sitting across from him and I leaned over. "You best watch your damn mouth 'fore it gets ya killed." He seemed to get it, but didn't care.

We still had Glenn's bag with us. Daryl walked over to it and reached in, pulling out the rag that held Merle's hand. "Want to see what happened to the last guy that pissed me off?" Daryl smacked the hand into the kid's lap. He started freaking out and fell onto the floor. Daryl ran over to the boy, reached out and grabbed him by the shirt. "Start with the feet this time." Maybe a little fear will knock some sense into this kid.

Rick pulled Daryl off. As he walked away, Daryl looked down at me. I grinned up at him, finding his trick amusing. He returned the grin and nodded.

"The men you were with took our friend." Rick was becoming impaitent. It was heard through his voice. The only thing problem was it was hard to tell what he was impaitent with. The kid, Daryl, or the situation all together. "All we want to do is talk to them, see if we can work something out."

Being reasonable had worked and the kid spilled the beans. He told us about the men holding up in an abandoned building not too far away. He said that there were plenty of men that could mess us up. I didn't doubt it, but we weren't leaving this dead city without Glenn.

We again packed up and came up with a plan. T-Dog was going to go ontop of the roof with a sniper and watch our backs. Rick, Daryl, and I were going to make a trade with the group's leader. The kid for Glenn.

Before leaving, Daryl stopped me. "You sure you're up for this?"

"I've had worse." That was true and Daryl knew it. We both had worse then a few cuts and bruises. This pain was barable compared to previous injuries. It was all behind us now. We needed to focus on the task at hand. We needed to get Glenn and get the hell out of dodge.


	8. Chapter 8: Worth More Than Gold

The building was clearly old and beat to shit. There was spray paint all over the walls and plants grew wildly over the ground. The only way in was through two brown, steel doors This was seriously a shady place.

"You sure you're up for this?" Rick asked T-Dog.

"Yeah." T-Dog had agreed to sit on the roof with a gun. He would take the bag of guns with him and watch us incase someone needed to be shot. He gathered everything and headed over to his spot.

Daryl looked down at the boy we had taken hostage. "One wrong move, you get an arrow in the ass. Just so you know."

"G's gonna take that arrow out of my ass and shove it up yours. Just so you know." This kid was a smart ass and it took every fiber in my being not to kick him in the mouth.

"G?" Rick asked.

"Guillermo," the boy answered. "He's the man here."

Rick loaded and cocked his gun. "Okay then. Let's go see Guillermo." Rick lead us through a small hole in the fenced wall. Daryl kicked the boy, forcing him to get up. I followed closely behind my brother with one of the shotguns that was in the bag.

Rick stopped when we were all in and pushed the boy forward. Rick, Daryl, and I walked in a straight line behind him. We stopped about ten feet from the door. Someone on the inside unlocked the door and opened it. The door hadn't been opened very often. The creaking sound it let out mad that clear.

A man in a stripped shirt and pants walked out. He stopped infront of the boy and asked, "You okay, little man?"

"They're gonna cut off my feet, carnal." His bitching was getting old.

"Cops do that?" the man asked Rick.

"Not him. This redneck puto here." That last comment made me tense up and my grip tightened on my gun. I hated it when people called Daryl a redneck. That was exactly like calling me a redneck, a name I did not appreciate one bit. "He cut off some dude's hand, man. He showed it to me."

Daryl was as pissed off as before. "Shut up."

"Hey, that's the vato right there." The two men who attacked us in the alley walked into veiw. "He shot me in the ass with an arrow. What's up, homes, huh?" He was pointing a gun in Daryl's direction.

The stripped shirt man was clearly the leader. He put his hand on the other man's arm, making him lower the gun. "Chill, ese, chill. Chill. This true?" He directed his questions to Rick. "He want's Miguelito's feet?" So that's the little bastard's name. "That's pretty sick, man."

"We were hoping more for a calm discussion." Well Rick was. I was hoping one of them would start something that we would have to finish.

"That hillbilly jumps Felipe's little cousin, beats on him, threatens to cut off his feet, Felipe gets an arrow in the ass and you want a calm discussion?" There they go with that hillbilly shit again. Say something stupid like that again. I dare you. "You fascinate me."

"Heat of the moment." Heat of the moment my ass, Rick. They're the ones that jumped us. "Mistakes were made on both sides."

"Who's that dude to you anyway?" he asked Rick. "You don't look related."

"He's in our group, more or less. I'm sure you have a few like him." When we get out of here, I'm gonna beat Rick's ass. That did not sound like a complement to me.

In all of this, Daryl still managed to remember Merle. "You got my brother in there?"

"Sorry, we're fresh out of white boys. But I've got Asian. You interested?" Glenn better be safe.

"I have one of yours, you have one of mine. Sounds like an even trade."

"Don't sound even to me." Ha. Even his own group don't want the kid.

"G. Come on, man." Miguelito didn't understand why his life isn't equal to Glenn's. Easy. Glenn's smarter and not a smart ass.

Guillermo ignored him. "My people got attacked. Where's the compensation for their pain and suffering?" Compensation? How about us not killing you? "More to the point, where's my bag of guns?"

"Guns?" Rick tried to play stupid, like this was the first time to hear the word.

"The bag Miguel saw in the street. The bag Felipe and Jorge were going back to get. That bag of guns."

"You're mistaken."

"I don't think so."

"About it being yours. It's my bag of guns." This back and forth banter was starting to get old and tiring, but they continued on.

"The bag was in the street. Anybody could come around and say it was theirs." Guillermo had a point even though Rick wasn't lying. "I'm supposed to take your word? What's to stop my people from unloading on you right here and now and I take what's mine?" The men behind him all lifted a weapon and was ready to fight.

"You could do that." Rick looked over to the roof next to the building the men were stationed and pointed to T-Dog. "Or not."

Guillermo thought for a second. "Oye," he called. Everyone looked up as two men dragged another to the ledge of the building's roof. He had a sac over his head. One of the men ripped it off and Glenn looked down at us. They had duct taped his mouth shut and he was panicing. They slowly pushed him closer to the edge. "I see two options. You come back with Miguel and my bag of guns, everybody walks. Or you come back locked and loaded, we'll see which side spills more blood." He slowly backed into the building as did his men.

We walked silently to a building across from the gang. Rick sifted through the bag of guns when T-Dog met up with us.

Daryl knew what was going on in Rick's mind. "Them guns are worth more than gold. Gold won't protect your family or put food on the table. You willing to give that up for that kid?"

T-Dog joined in. "If I knew we'd get Glenn back, I might agree. But you think that vato across the way is just gonna hand him over?"

"You calling G a liar?" This kid was asking for it.

"Are you a part of this?" Daryl was not in the mood. He slapped the kid upside the head. "You want to hold onto your teeth?"

T-Dog went back to the discussion, pretending he didn't see Daryl hit the kid. "Question is do you trust that man's word?"

"No, the question is what are ya willing to bet on it? Could be more than them guns. Could be your life. Glenn worth that to you?" Daryl had asked the wrong man that question. Rick risked his life to come back for Merle and he didn't like him. Glenn is a different story.

Rick loaded a gun and put it in the holster on his belt. "What life I have I owe to him. I was nobody to Glenn, just some idiot stuck in a tank. He could have walked away but he didn't. Neither will I."

"So you're gonna hand the guns over?" I asked him.

Rick looked at me as I leaned against the wall. "I didn't say that." He looked around at all of us then. "There's nothing keep you three here. You should get out, head back to camp."

"And tell your family what?" T-Dog knew that there was no way around this. We were all suckered in even if we didn't want to be.

Daryl looked at Rick for a split second. He walked over to the guns, grabbing one. I stayed against the wall as Rick handed one to T-Dog. Daryl grabbed another and handed it to me. I took it without saying a word.

"Come on, this is nuts." The boy stood up in protest. Daryl didn't even have to speak this time. He just pointed to the seat and the boy sat. "Just do like G says."

We all igonred him as we tended to our guns. We loaded them and made sure they were right for us. As soon as we were ready, we headed out.

Miguel was infront with his hands behind his back and mouth covered with a rag. Daryl walked behind him, put the gun in Miguel's back. T-Dog, Rick, and I were behind them.

The door opened and Daryl pushed the kid inside. We followed, looking for any signs of danger. Guillermo met up with us inside of the building. "I see my bag of guns but they're not all in the bag."

Rick was the speaker of us. "That's because they're not yours. I thought I mentioned that."

Felipe leaned over to Guillermo. "Let's just shoot these fools right now, ese. Alright? Unload on their asses, ese."

Guillermo put his hand up, signaling Felipe to quiet down. "I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation."

"No, I'm pretty clear." Rick ripped out his knife, cut the ties around Miguel's hands, and pushed him forward to Guillermo. "You have your man. I want mine."

"I'm gonna chop up your boy. I'm gonna feed him to my dogs," he threatened. "They're the evilest, nastiest man-eating bitches you ever saw. I picked them up from Satan at a yard sale." This guy needed to tone down the dramatics a bit. "I told you how it has to be. Are you woefully deaf?" He was getting closer and closer to Rick.

"No, my hearings just fine. You said come locked and loaded." The four of us cocked our guns at the same time. Everyone in Guillermo's group did the same. "Okay then, we're here." His gun was pointed directly between Guillermo's eyes.

"Felipe! Felipe!" An elderly woman appeared behind a few of the men.

Felipe turned to her. "Abuela, go back with the others, now."

"Get that old lady outta line of fire!" Daryl wasn't too keen on killing an innocent old woman.

Guillermo called to the woman. "Abuela, listen to your m'hijo, okay? This is not the place for you right now."

She ignored him and explained her presence. "Mr. Gilbert is having trouble breathing. He needs his asthma stuff. Carlito didn't find it. He needs his medicine." Rick slowly lowered his gun, confused at what was happening.

Guillermo aprubtly turned to Felipe. "Felipe, go take care of it, okay? And take your grandmother with you."

Felipe looked down at the old woman and spoke quickly in spanish. She ignored him when she saw us. "Who are those people?" He tried again speaking in spanish to her. She walked up to Rick. "Don't you take him."

Rick looked at her. "Ma'am?"

"Felipe's a good boy," she continued. "He have his trouble but he pull himself together. We need him here."

Rick spoke to her gently. "Ma'am, I'm not here to arrest your grandson." I almost forgot he was wearing his police uniform. That's why the woman was so upset. She believed that Felipe had gotten into trouble and was being taken to prison.

"Then what do you want him for?" she asked.

Rick didn't know what to say. "He's... helping us find a missing person. Fella named Glenn."

She knew exactly what Rick was talking about. "The Asian boy? He's with Mr. Gilbert. Come. Come, I show you. He needs his medicine." She took Rick's hand and lead him out of the room.

Guillermo looked at his men, knowing he had been defeated. "Let 'em pass." The men stepped aside to let the three of us through to follow.

Daryl walked infront of me and T-Dog, behind me. We walked and followed the old woman through the halls of the building. We passed many rooms with elderly people inside. This was a freaking nursing home.

We continued to follow the woman into a large hall with several people inside. Most were crowded around a man who was having dificulty breathing. Glenn was among the gathered people.

Rick looked over to him. "What the hell is this?"

"An asthma attack," Glenn answered. "Couldn't get his breath all of a sudden."

"I thought you were being eaten by dogs, man." T-Dog was puzzled.

Glenn turned around and we followed his gaze. There were two small white and one brown chihuahuas. Satan man-eating dogs my ass.

"You have got to be joking," I said looking at the dogs.

Rick looked at Guillermo. "Could I have a word with you?" They walked away and out of earshot.

Daryl and I stood silently, not sure what else to do. Glenn and T-Dog talked quietly to one another.

After a few minutes of talking, Guillermo brought us into a room to talk more privately. "What about the rest of your crew?" Rick asked, setting the guns down.

"The vatos tricke in to check on their parents, their grandparents," Guillermo explained. "They see how things are and most decide to stay. It's a good thing too. We need the muscle. The people we've encountered since things fell apart, the worst kind - plunderers - the kind that take by force."

"That's not who we are." Rick was trying to clear our name.

"How was I to know? My people got attacked and you show up with Miguel hostage. Appearences."

T-Dog was sitting alone in a corner. "Guess the world changed."

"No," Guillermo corrected. "It's the same as it ever was. The weak get take. We do what we can here. The vatos work on those cars, talk about getting the old people out of the city. But most can't even go to the bathroom by themselves, so that's just a dream. Still, it keeps the crew busy, and that's worth something. So we barred all of the windows, welded all the doors shut except for one entrance. The vatos, they go out, scavenge what they can to keep us going. We watch the perimeter night and day and we wait." He paused and looked up at Rick, who was speachless.

"The people here," Guillermo continued, "they all look to me now. I don't even know why."

Rick knew exactly how Guillermo was feeling. "Because they can." He handed Guillermo the gun in his hand. He opened the bag and gave him more. We sat, not knowing what to say. We just let Rick do what he thought was right, even if we didn't agree.

We didn't stay much longer after Rick gave them the guns. It was time to get home. We were silent for awhile, while walking.

Glenn broke that silence. "Admit it, you only came back to Atlanta for the hat." While grabbing the guns, Glenn picked up Rick's sherrif's hat that he dropped last time he was here.

"Don't tell anybody," Rick joked.

Daryl couldn't hold his tounge any longer. He needed to express his anger. "You've given away half our guns and ammo."

"Not nearly half," Rick corrected.

"For what? Bunch of old farts who are gonna die off momentarily anyhow? Seriously, how long you think they got?"

"How long do any of us?" Rick asked. He was right. Our time on this earth is limited. Time was no longer guaranteed.

We all seemed to stop at the same time. My mouth dropped when I saw it, or didn't see it. The box truck was gone.

"Where the hell's our van?" Daryl questioned.

Glenn had begun to panic again. "We left it right there. Who would take it?"

Only one person came to mind. "Merle." Daryl looked at me, knowing I was right.

"He's gonna be taking some vengence back to camp," Daryl said.

"Looks like we're running." T-Dog wasn't too pleased with the idea. None of us were. But we needed to get back to camp before Merle had an angry field day. And run we did.


	9. Chapter 9: Senses Off

The sun was beginning to set and our pace picked up. We didn't want to be caught in these woods after dark. The faster we went, the heavier our materials became. All I held was a shotgun, a handgun in my back pocket, and my hunting knife on my side.

I didn't understand how T-Dog could carry Dale's box of tools, how Rick carried the bag of guns, or how Daryl carried his crossbow without getting tired. The only person who carried less than I did was Glenn. All he carried was his backpack and a shotgun that Rick had given him.

When the camp was in sight, we slowed down slightly. We made it home and there was no need to run anymore. Relief flooded my mind.

That feeling was quickly gone when an extremely loud scream rang through the air. No one said a word. It had caught us all off guard and not a single one of us moved for a second. "Oh my God," Rick said. Rick took off and we followed in his path. Gunshots were sounded the closer we got to camp.

"Go! Go!" T-Dog called.

Once we finally reached camp, it was being overrun. Walkers were everywhere, trying to chomp on the skin of fellow campers. Most were crowded behind Shane, who had the only gun. They were working thier way up to the RV.

I pulled my shotgun up and started firing, as did Rick, Glenn, T-Dog and Daryl. One by one, the walkers fell. We managened to work our way through most all of them. Some of us went on our knees and hit the walkers in the heads until they no longer moved.

Rick called for Carl and his wife. They ran to him and hugged him tightly. The gunshots stopped and the only noise were the cries of the campers who wept for their loved ones.

Daryl walked over to me and nudged me on the shoulder, letting me know that he was alright. He walked up towards the RV, watching for anymore walkers.

I watched him walk, but my line of vision was cut off when Shane stepped into it. He was breathing heavily, but he looked unscathed. I was happy to see he was alright. We started walking towards each other when he suddenly stopped. "Ariel, get down," he yelled, lifting his gun.

Turning quickly, I saw a walker approaching me. I obeyed Shane and dropped to the ground. A shot was fired and the walker went limp. I stared at it in shock. How could I not hear it approaching? Never have I once been caught off guard by something like this.

Footsteps quickly approached me. Shane and Daryl ran to my side to make sure I was alright. They picked me up and checked for any sign of a bite or a scratch. My eyes didn't leave the dead walker. The world around me melted away as I tried to figure out what I did wrong. I hardly ever made errors and this one nearly cost me my life. It wasn't like this walker was quiet either. None of them were. Their snarls could be heard from at least a few feet away. I let my guard down and for what? That was a question that was going to haunt me.

Daryl was infront of my face, calling my name. It brought me back into the real world. "Air, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." That's what I chose to believe. There might have been something wrong with me, but I haven't come to the conclusion on what that was.

Andrea screamed Amy's name as she sat next to her sister's body. Amy had been one of the members lost during our battle with the dead. She was a person that will truly be missed.

"I remember my dream now," Jim commented. "Why I dug the holes." He must have predicted that this would happen. We hadn't been here for us to know what he was talking about, but it had to have been something along those lines.

The next step was to get rid of the bodies. A few people voluteered to start and let the rest of us sleep, but Shane suggested that we all get some rest. It had been a long night and the next day was going to be even longer. We were going to need all of the sleep we could get.

Daryl walked ahead of me to our tent. He was anxious to end this day as quickly as he possibly could. I followed behind him, but once he was in the tent, Shane stopped me. "Hey, are you sure you're okay? You looked pretty shaken up."

"Yeah, I'm fine." What else could I say? I fucked up? Yeah, that sounds perfect.

"Oh, okay. I'm glad you're alright." I nodded at him in response and started to walk away. "Hey, you still want that hug?" The question made me stop in my tracks. I turned to face him again, not sure how to answer. Did I want his hug or should I just walk away? Before I could answer my own question, Shane wraped his arms around me, embracing me. He was warm and sweaty, but so I. It lasted longer than a normal hug should, but it felt comforting. My nerves were calming as his arms tightened.

"Air, where the hell are you?" Daryl called from inside the tent. Shane quickly released me and took a step back. Shane seemed to be frightened of Daryl. I could see why. He could be an asshole when he wanted to be.

"I'm comin'," I shouted back. I turned to Shane. "I better go in 'fore he comes out here and makes this night a hell of a lot worse than it already is."

"Um, yeah. I guess I'll se you tomorrow, then?" Shane said while he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah. Long day ahead of us." I waved at him and walked into the tent.

Daryl was sitting on his sleeping bag, staring at me. "What the hell took you so damn long?"

"I was, uh, talking to Shane." I stumbled with my words because I knew that Daryl would explode.

He nodded. "Why?"

"He wanted to know if I was alright," I said while sitting on my sleeping bag.

"Whatever." Daryl layed down and went to sleep. "Why do I bother with this shit?" Daryl turned, not facing me. He was done trying to reason with me. It had become obvious that I was going to do what I wanted and Daryl couldn't stop me. If I wanted to talk to Shane, then that's what I was going to do.

There was a long day ahead, so it was about time to go to sleep. Tonight, it was hard. All I could think about was that walker. What happened in my mind that I couldn't kill it? I didn't even hear it approach. There was never a time that I was caught off guard. It sucked. I felt as if I was losing my touch. This world has really screwed up my senses. I needed to pull myself together before I became walker bait.


	10. Chapter 10: Zero Tolerance

"Air, get up. We got shit to do." Daryl nudged my side with his foot.

"When did ya get up?" It was weird. I normally could hear when my brother woke. He was a foot away from me, how could I not?

"When ya fell asleep." He exited the tent without another word. I quickly slipped on my shoes and followed him outside. Last night, I didn't bother changing, so I was in the same clothes as yesterday.

"What?" I called to him.

He stopped and turned to me. "I didn't bother sleepin' last night. I knew I wouldn't, so I didn't. I walked and got the truck instead." He pointed over to his blue truck. It was sitting with the rest of the group's vehicles.

"By yourself?" In the beginning of the plague, we agreed to never go anywhere alone. It was too dangerous. We only had each other left and we weren't going to risk losing that.

"Yeah." Daryl turned and walked. He was headed to one of the remaining axes. Everyone started the clean up from last night and Daryl was in a rush to join in.

"Why? I thought I was gonna go with ya." I was clearly confused. I never liked to show confusion much because I didn't want to be viewed as the dumb redneck. But, this was important. He left me and I didn't even know. What if something happened to me? He would have never been able to forgive himself for leaving me by myself. Honestly, I don't know if I would have been able to forgive him. Our bond was tight and it hurt that he didn't fill me in on his whereabouts.

"Ariel, I'm not in the mood. We'll talk later." Whenever he used my full name, I knew he was serious. It wasn't very often when he called me 'Ariel'. This mood he was in also was very familiar. He didn't get into it much, but when he did, I steer clear. It gets about ten times worse when he didn't get any sleep. It just made me wonder what he was so peeved about anyway.

The camp was busy with removing their loved ones. The only one not moving was Andrea. She leaned over her sister Amy, holding her. I heard someone said she'd been there all night. I felt for her. She was now left alone to fight this world. She lost the one person she loved dearly.

Someone had lit a fire to burn all of the dead walkers. We all helped each other throw them one by one into the flames. The smell of the burning flesh filled the air. It made most want to vomit. I was able to keep it down, but it still turned my stomach upside down.

After about an hour, we took a break to discuss what we should do about Amy. Lori and Rick told us to leave her be.

"Y'all can't be serious? Let that girl hamstring us?" Daryl was not in the mood for their bullshit today. "The dead girl's a time bomb."

"What do you suggest?" asked Rick.

Daryl took a step towards Rick. "Take the shot. Clean, in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance."

"We ain't talkin' about a turkey." Daryl looked at me, shocked. Normally I would be all for taking out a future walker, but this one was personal. Her sister hung over her, clinging to her for dear life. To shoot Amy would be disastrous.

"For God's sakes, let her be." Lori didn't want to disturb the girls either. She knew exactly what I knew.

Daryl stormed away, defeated, leaving Shane, Rick, Lori, and me in a circle. It was awkward. None of us knew what to say. We all just quietly slipped into a piece of work that needed to be done.

Daryl walked past Jim, who appeared to be dozing off. "Wake up, Jimbo. We've got some work to do." He then walked to Morales and helped him with a body he was struggling with.

"What are you guys doing?" Glenn asked as he approached them. The men continued to pull the body to the flames. "This is for geeks. Our people go over there." He pointed to a row of bodies that were to be buried once the burning was done.

"What's the difference?" Daryl questioned. "They're all infected."

Glenn was not giving up. "Our people go in that row over there. We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand?" Daryl didn't chose to argue. Glenn was upset to see them taking one of our own to the flames and he fought to stop it. That has always been something Daryl admired in some people. He liked the way some would fight for what they believed.

The only problem was Daryl didn't like to show that. "You reap what you sow," he called to Glenn.

Morales dropped the body. "You know what? Shut up, man."

Daryl walked on to retrieve another body. "Y'all left my brother for dead. You had this comin'." Maybe he was right. They did leave Merle to die on that roof. Maybe this was just bad karma.

I walked over and helped Daryl with another body. This one was a girl. It appeared she had been decomposing for weeks. It was way before her time.

A loud yell from Jacqui stopped us in our tracks. "Then show me." We truned our attention to her and Jim as he whispered something to her. Suddenly, she was shouting again. "A walker got him. A walker bit Jim."

Everyone slowly approached him as Jim backed away. "I'm okay. I'm okay," he kept repeating.

"Show it to us," Daryl demanded. "Show it to us." He had his axe raised, trying to threaten Jim. Jim grabbed his shovel for protection.

"Easy, Jim," Shane called from a distance, attempting to calm the man.

Daryl turned to T-Dog and I. "Grab him. Grab him."

"Jim, put it down. Put it down." Shane was jogging to Jim, begging him to drop the shovel.

T-Dog snuck up from behind Jim and wrapped his arms around him. Daryl ran over and lifted the man's shirt. There it was, clear as day. There was a circular red mark on Jim's right side that was slightly bleeding. "I'm okay," Jim repeated over and over again.

Daryl and T-Dog both released him and backed away. Daryl stopped about a foot or two infront of me. I, along with most of the group, hung my head in sorrow. Poor Jim was either going to die or turn.

Shane convinced Jim to sit by the back of the RV as we all discussed what we needed to do. This was a discussion that everyone, except Andrea and Jim, was involved in. Everyone's opinions needed to be heard.

Daryl's was first, like always. "I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it."

Shane didn't like it. "Is that what you'd want if it were you?" He was clearly expected a different answer from Daryl.

"Yeah, and I'd thank you while ya did it."

"I hate to say it," Dale added, "I never thought I would, but maybe Daryl's right." That wasn't expected either. I had never met anyone, besides Merle and me, that would agree with Daryl on this. They were both going to become walkers and I had my brother's back. I'd rather not kill Jim or Amy, but if Daryl thought it needed to be done to protect us, then I was with him.

"Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog." Rick was offended that Dale agreed.

"I'm not suggesting-" Dale was cut off.

Rick was in Jim's defense. "He's sick. A sick man. We start down that road, where do we draw the line?

Daryl was not going to allow Rick to put our lives at risk. "The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be."

"What if we can get him help?" Rick was desperate. "I heard the CDC was working on a cure."

"We all heard that and tons of other shit before the world went to hell," I said, staring Rick in the eye.

He didn't keep his on me, though. He continued his argument while looking at every face in the group. "What if the CDC is still up and running?"

"Man, that is a stretch right there." Shane knew as much as we did that there was nothing guaranteed anymore. Everything went down and there was no way of knowing if the CDC was still up.

"Why? If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs, wouldn't they?" Rick knew that he was losing. "I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection-"

Shane interrupted him. "Okay, Rick, you want those things, all right? I do too, okay? Now if they exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning."

"That's a hundred miles in the opposite direction," Lori commented.

"That is right," Shane confirmed. "But it's away from the hot zone. Now listen to me. If that place is operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there."

"The military were on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We've all seen that." Rick was right. The military didn't stand a chance against the monsters. "The CDC is our best choice and Jim's only chance."

My eye caught Daryl looking back at Jim as Rick spoke. Something was burning in his mind. Once Rick was done talking, Daryl started. "You go lookin' for asprin, do what you need to do." He started running in Jim's direction, lifting the pickaxe he still had in his hand. "Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!"

Before he could bring the axe back down on Jim's skull, Rick cocked his gun and pointed it at Daryl's head once again. "Hey hey hey!" Rick called. "We don't kill the living." Daryl turned toward Rick as Shane stepped between Jim and Daryl.

I walked slowly over to the men with my knife at my side. If Rick killed Daryl, I was going to kill Rick. Shane saw me in defense mode, but didn't bother to come near me and retrieve my weapon. He was too concerned about Daryl killing Jim.

"That's funny comin' from a man who just put a gun to my head." Daryl was right. We don't kill the living? Put the damn gun down and prove it.

"We may disagree on some things," Shane added, "not this. You put it down. Go on."

As Daryl slammed the axe on the ground, Rick pulled back his gun. Daryl stormed away and I put my knife back in my pocket. This small fight was over as Shane picked up the axe.

I followed Daryl as Rick took Jim into the RV. He walked over to his truck and dug out a pack of chewing gum. It wasn't as good as a cigarette, but it would have to do. "Got one to spare?" I asked him. Without speaking, he tossed me a piece. It practically melted in my mouth.

Before I had a chance to ask him if he was okay, he started to walk away. "C'mon. We gotta finish this shit." He walked over to Shane who gave him back his axe and went back to work.

I knew that it would be useless to ask now. He didn't want to be bothered. All Daryl was focused on at the moment was getting these bodies cleared out of camp. He would probably break down later and tell me what's bothering him when we were alone. Or he would run off again and pretend he was going out to hunt. He usually did that when even I can't help him get through something. There was something about that forest that allowed us Dixons to get our heads clear. It almost always seemed to work, too. It was a place we could be alone. We all also understood that if one of us went out there, then that means somethings wrong and we don't want to be bothered. It was our one and only sanctuary.

Daryl and I moved a few more corpses into either the fire or the row of our dead camp members. Daryl was about smash the head of Ed when Carol appeared, tears softly falling down her face. "I'll do it. He's my husband." We both understood where she was coming from and Daryl handed her the axe.

We stepped back and watched. It was heavy for her, but Carol managed to lift the pickaxe up and strick down on Ed's head. The tears were following down her cheeks more rapidly now, but she didn't stop. She struck Ed several times. Carol knew that he was dead and wasn't coming back at this point, but this was the only time she was able to fight back.

Once Carol had nothing left in her, she handed the axe back to Daryl and walked away. "Jesus Christ," I whispered to Daryl.

"I know," he whispered back. It was amazing to see the strength in that woman. If only she showed it more when Ed was still alive. She could have shown him that she wasn't worthless and weak. If only, if only.

After some time when most of the bodies were properly disposed of, Daryl and I took a break and sat by the fire pit. The Georgia sun was hotter than hell today, of all days. Daryl handed me a water bottle and I took it happily.

During midsip, I stopped. Dale and Carol were looking at something. I followed their gaze and saw Andrea with Amy. Amy was trying to tear Andrea's flesh from her bones while Andrea spoke softly to her. Andrea held her sister's head, preventing her from taking the bite she most desperately wanted.

Rick and Shane could see that Andrea was struggling and they walked her way. They froze when they heard the gunshot. Amy fell to the ground, dying a second time. Andrea dropped her gun and resumed her position over Amy.

While watching the sisters, I felt sad. A woman who would have done anything for someone was gone. People would mourn her. No one but Daryl mourned Merle. He didn't deserve people's grief like Amy did. She brought happiness to this shithole of a world. Why did it have to be her? I'm sure there are shittier people alive in this world that should have been taken. She was so young too, barely even lived. If there was a God, he played some pretty sick jokes.


	11. Chapter 11: Options

While the bodies of the walkers burned, we loaded the dead camp members into the back of Daryl's truck and brought them to the hill where they were to be buried. Daryl and I brought the truck to the top where Shane and Rick were digging the graves. The men continued their work as the two of us approached them.

"I still think it's a mistake not burning these bodies," Daryl said. "It's what we said we'd do, right? Burn 'em all, wasn't that that the idea?"

The rest of the group were headed up the hill as Shane answered. "At first."

"The Chinaman gets all emotional, says it's not the thing to do, we just follow him along?" Daryl's anger today was beyond normal. I knew his mood was bad, but damn he could at least take a breather before showing it. "These people need to know who the hell's in charge here, what the rules are."

"There are no rules," Rick told Daryl.

Lori was able to hear Rick's answer, even though she was quite a ways away. "Well, that's a problem. We haven't had one minute to hold onto anything of our old selves. We need time to mourn and we need to bury our dead. It's what people do." This bitch is really getting on my nerves. She needs to butt out of everyone's buisness.

A short while later, after Daryl and I helped dig the remaining holes, a small service was held to honor the ones that were lost. Andrea had Amy wrapped in a white blanket as she lowered her sister into her final resting place. Dale offered his help, but Andrea refused it.

Everyone was silent as the holes were filled with the bodies and dirt. No words were said. No one really knew what to say anyway. After a short time of silence, everyone dispersed.

Daryl moved his truck back to its original parking space. I ran over, trying to catch up before he takes off again. He got out of his truck and saw me heading his way. Instead of waving me off, he waited. He knew I was going to question him sooner or later.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" I asked as I drew nearer.

"What?" He was irritated, annoyed that I was bothering him.

"What the hell's your problem today?" I stared into Daryl's light blue eyes, a splitting image of mine, seeing the dissapointment he held.

"Nothin'."

"Bullshit." His one word answer was empty. I needed more. I was truly concerned about him. "You're bein' pissier than usual. All I want to know is why?"

"'Cause my brother is running 'round the fucking streets of Atlanta with a very low chance of surviving." I rolled my eyes. Merle's the one who left. Get over it. He's more than likely alive. "And I got a sister who don't give a shit anymore 'bout nothin'."

"I'm sorry. What's that s'pose to mean?" It pained me whenever Daryl took shots at me when he was like this. I was the only one there for him and he would just push me away.

"Let me clear that up for ya. You gave up looking for Merle as soon as we got that bag of guns. You insist on talkin' to that sumbitch that had me in a headlock not too damn long ago and you ignore me when I specically said to stay away from him. I said he's bad news and you don't listen. You never do. You better get it through your thick head, Ariel, that he's trouble. You're gonna get hurt and don't come cryin' back to me when you do. The only thing I'm gonna tell you is 'I told you so.'" Daryl stormed passed me without allowing me to respond.

"Fuck you," I mumbled under my breath. I stood there, not knowing what to feel. My brother had just told me how he felt and it was nothing that I was expecting. It angered me that he would have the nerve to say such a thing. Of course I cared that Merle could be dead and of course I listen to Daryl, but it's time that he start letting me live. There isn't much time for me to live and he's making me waste it. Then he blamed me for disobeying him. I'm not his. I'm old enough to take care of my own and it's about time he learned that.

Suddenly, something touched my shoulder. I reached for my knife and spinned quickly around, ready to kill any walker that fucked with me now. To my relief, it was only Shane. "Christ," I said as I put my knife back in its rightful place. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry. I just saw you and Daryl talking. Things looked like they got a little heated. You all right?" Why was he watching Daryl and me? We were just having a little brother-sister discussion. Oh, who am I kidding? We were ready to rip out each other's throuts.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Daryl's just being an asshole." I answered him half truthfully. Daryl was being an asshole, but I wasn't fine. His words hurt more than any fist in my face. I hated when Daryl thought less of me than was expected. I hated disappointing him. He was the only one I cared to impress.

"Okay, well, I was wondering about your thoughts on leaving." His brown eyes stared into mine. I could feel something strange when he looked at me that way. I just couldn't put my finger on what exactly that was.

"What about them?" I asked him, breaking my eyes away from his. Daryl may have been an asshole, but he may have been right. I don't need this right now. All I needed to focus on was surviving.

"Do you want to go to the CDC?" I couldn't tell if he was asking as a person who was taking a vote or a person who cared about my opinion. I treated it as both.

"Well, it's a long shot. But so is everythin' these days." It was the truth and that's what he wanted, even if he didn't like it.

"What about Fort Benning?" Shane argued. "It would be a hell of a lot safer than going to the city. Even if it's a bust, we'll be far away from here."

I honestly didn't know what to decide. "That's even a longer shot. Listen, I'm goin' where ever Daryl's goin. I'll go ask him now." I walked away from Shane and for once, he didn't follow. He was clearly pissed off because he didn't get the answer he wanted. Shane wants someone to side with him on this and not Rick. I wasn't going to be that person that he had hoped.

Shane, Rick, and Dale went for a perimeter check not too long after our little discussion. Shane was more than likely giving Rick an earfull about this CDC idea. It was risky, but we needed a sanctuary. Maybe this CDC could be it, maybe not. We were never going to know if we don't try.

Most of the group, including Daryl and me, were sitting around the fire pit when the three men returned. "I've, uh, I've thinking about Rick's plan," Shane said as he placed his gun down next to me. "Now look, there are no, uh, there are no guarantees either way. I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time. I trust his insticts." This shocked Lori, who was sitting on the other side of me. The look she gave Shane gave that away. "I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Okay?" Shane stood there for a few seconds before walking back over to Rick.

The rest of us went back to our tents to talk with our family members and loved ones about the options that we were handed. Daryl knew that I would go where ever he thought was safest. "You wanna go?" I asked him.

"I think bein' with people is that safest and smartest way to go." Daryl was right. The more of us there are, the less chance we have of being eaten alive.

"The CDC then?"

"Looks like it." He paused and thought for a moment. There was something that he wanted to say, but didn't know how.

"What's on your mind, man?" His uncertainty was getting on my nerves and I couldn't take it anymore. I knew I was going to regret asking, but I shot my mouth off anyway. I knew that it had something to do with our earlier talk. Maybe he wasn't finished with telling me how bad of a person I was being.

Daryl calmly looked down at me. He was trying to contain himself. "Are ya goin' 'cause of me?"

"Who else would I be goin' for?"

Daryl raised his eyebrow. That let me know exactly who he was talking about.

"Oh my God, Daryl. I'm not goin' 'cause of Shane. Fucking drop it with him." I hoped that concinced him. I wasn't sure myself. I wanted to be around Shane, but then I didn't. I didn't know if it was my fear of Daryl or I got truly annoyed by Shane. Everything was so mixed up nowadays. I only needed Daryl to think that CDC was good idea for him to let us go. If he didn't think that I was going for safety, then we would be on the road again. Away from people. Away from Shane.


	12. Chapter 12: Done

Daryl and I spent the night in silence as we packed our things for the big move. We didn't have much, but it was enough to keep us busy. We shoved what we had in the bed of Daryl's truck, right next to Merle's shiny motorcycle.

When morning came, Shane called us all to give instructions. "Everbody listen up. Those of you with CBs, we're gonna be on channel forty. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a CB, can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

Morales raised his hand slightly, beginning to speak. "We're, uh, we're not going."

"We have family in Birmingham," his wife explained. "We want to be with our people."

Shane didn't like that they were going by themselves. "You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back."

"We'll take the chance. I got to do what's best for my family." I could relate to Morales. He only wants the best for his children and they didn't think the CDC was it.

Daryl stood, biting his nails, as Rick and Shane handed Morales a gun and some ammo. I knew Daryl didn't like that they were giving away more of our ammunition, but what choice did they have? Morales was a friend and he and his family needed some kind of protection.

After a heartfelt goodbye to all the members of the group by the Morales family, it was time. Everyone packed into their vehicles and started their engines. I took the passenger's seat of Daryl's truck and he drove. We were the last vehicle in the caravan.

About half way to the CDC, we had to stop. Something was wrong with the RV. The both of us got out of the car to check out the situation. The hose was final broken in that old piece of crap.

"I see something up ahead," Shane said with his binoculars to his eyes. "A gas station if we're lucky."

Suddenly, Jacqui came running out of the RV. "Y'all, Jim, it's bad. I don't think he can take anymore." Without waiting for a response, she went back into the RV to be with Jim.

Shane called to Rick. "You wanna hold down the fort? I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back."

"Yeah, I'll come with along too and I'll back you up." T-Dog held the binoculars up, seeing whatever it was that Shane saw.

I desperately yearned to join in. It sounded like an adventure, dangerous. I was always down with dangerous. But I knew, either it be Daryl or Shane, I would have been told no. It was best to keep my mouth shut and stay.

"Y'll keep your eyes open now." Shane repostioned the hat on his head. He looked over at me as he said, "We'll be right back."

Daryl paced along the edge of the road, looking for walkers. The rest of the group hung around the RV, stretching their legs, as Rick talked to Jim inside. We all knew that he wasn't going to make it much longer. This ride was killing him.

I leaned against the RV, waiting. I waited for Rick to come out and tell us about Jim's condition. I waited for Daryl to say something, anything to me. I waited for Shane's return. I was just waiting. This world is made up of fighting, survivng, and waiting. Waiting being one of the hardest things to do when you don't have the patience for it.

Finally, the one I wanted most to happen, did. Shane and T-Dog pulled up looking unharmed. A small smile spread across my face knowing he was safe. He walked over to Dale and handed him something that could fix the RV. He walked over to where the rest of us waited for Rick to give us the news.

It was easy to see that he was heading towards me. Shane was about three steps away from me when Rick came walking out. Great timing, Rick. I was disappointed that I yet again was blocked from having contact with Shane. This shit was getting old real quick.

Rick told us that Jim wanted us to leave him here. "It's what he said he wants."

"And he's lucid?" Carol asked.

"He seems to be," he answered. "I would say yes."

"Back in the camp when I said Daryl might be right and you shut me down, you misunderstood. I would never go along with callously killing a man." Dale seemed to be a little upset that no one listened to him the first time because he had a pretty good idea. "I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer."

"We just leave him here? We take off? Man, I'm not sure I could live with that." Shane was right. We couldn't just leave him here to die. That would be cruel.

"It's not your call, either one of you," Lori told Rick and Shane. Jesus woman, stay the fuck out of this. It's their discussion, not yours. They can work their own shit out without your help.

Shortly after, Rick and Shane brought Jim out into the open. They layed him against a tree as gently as they possibly could. The entire group watched as Jim settled into his new spot.

Shane talked softly to the struggling man. "Hey, Jim. I mean, you know it doesn't need to be this."

Jim was having a hard time breathing, but stlll managed to answer. "No. It's good. The breeze feels nice." That's when Shane accepted Jim's fate and backed away.

Jacqui was next to say her final words to Jim. "Just close your eyes, sweetie. Don't fight." She leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek. When she turned to let another talk to Jim, tears were visible on her face. This was going to be a tough one for her.

Rick moved forward next. "Jim, do you want this?" He had a gun in his hand.

"No. You'll need it." Jim knew we needed it more than he did because he was minutes from death. Rick didn't like that he refused the gun. "I'm okay," Jim assured him. "I'm okay."

After Rick moved away, one by one our group said their final goodbyes. The pain in the atmosphere was all too easy to feel. When it came to Daryl and I, we just looked at Jim and nodded at him slightly. We didn't know him too well, but it still hurt to watch him go. He nodded back at us, knowing what our stare meant.

Everyone got into their cars and watched Jim fade away in their rearview mirror. He looked so peaceful as we drove away.

I stared out of the window, thinking about the way things could have been if Jim didn't get bit. Would we still be heading to the CDC or would we still be in the quarry, trying to figure out out next move?

I was never one to be so deep in thought that I didn't hear any of my surroundings. Daryl had to hit me on my leg to make me pay attention. He knew that something was on my mind that I wanted off. Thinking about this was making me sweat, signaling that I needed to be distracted. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" Oh, if it's what I think it is, I'm going to kill him. He doesn't know how to drop things.

"What?" I reluctantly asked.

"What's your beef with Lori?" What? How did he know? "I saw ya tense up back when Rick and Shane were talkin' 'bout Jim. Somethin' 'bout that woman gets under your skin and I'd like to know what."

"Hm? Well, I don' know really. She just irratates me. She won' let well enough alone, always in people's buisness. When things get slightly tense with Rick and Shane, she has to be the one to break it up. That bitch don' understand that people can take care of their own without her thinkin' she knows what's best." I was really laying it out. That wasn't a normal thing, but everything about Lori pissed me off. "God, she tries to act like the mother of the year and shit, but half the time she got other people lookin' after her son."

"Wow. Never seen ya hate someone so much." He paused, thinking about the next thing he should say. "I thought maybe it was the fact the she was fuckin' Shane 'fore all this."

That caught me by surprise. I didn't really know what to respond to that. Was that really the reason I hated Lori this whole time? I mean, I never really got to know her and I never wanted to. Maybe that was what pissed me off about her so much.

"Your silence is deafenin'." Daryl knew that I liked Shane and I usually tried to hide it, but this gave it away. My silence made it clear that Shane was an option in my book and Lori was getting in the way of that.

"Shit," I said quietly to myself. I don't know why I said it, but that's the word that came out.

Daryl scoffed. "I knew it. Ya try hidin' shit, but it never works."

I gave in. He knew and there was no way I could cover it up. "Is it that obvious?"

"To me? Fuck yeah. I know ya better than anyone. I know that shit ya do when ya like someone. To everyone else? Nah. They're all caught up in their own shit to even care to notice our presence." He was right. Daryl could read me like a book. He knew all of my moves and all of my thoughts. We are like twins without actually being twins. "The only one that I think noticed was Lori. But who gives a shit 'bout her. You're right. Bitch can't keep her nose out of everyone's buisness."

I was so confussed. Daryl was acting unusually calm and collected. There was no way that he could be cool with this. He hated Shane from the beginning. "Why aren't ya pissed off? I thought you'd be screamin' at me by now."

Daryl took a deep breath. He had a serious answer. I could tell. He always takes a deep breath when something serious was trying to surface. "I am pissed off. I hated how you refused to tell me. I knew and you knew it, but you still didn't say anything. I also asked you time and time again to not talk to him. Time and time again, you don' listen. I'm done tellin' ya not to talk to him 'cause you're just gonna ignore me anyways. If you want to go for him, then do it. I'm done stoppin' ya." Wow. Just wow.

I always thought that Daryl would realize I wasn't listening to him anymore, but I didn't think it would be so soon. I was shocked, speechless even. All I was able to do was stare at him with disbelief.

He cracked a small smile. "Just so ya know, if he ever hurts ya, I'm gonna cut off his nuts and feed them to 'em."

That made me smile as well and laugh a little. "Yeah, Daryl. I know."

The rest of the ride was silent. The tension between us, though, was gone. We were finally back to our regular selves. Daryl wasn't being such an asshole and I wasn't being such a bitch. We hardly ever got into a state like that, where we both had something against the each other. It was always difficult to get out of because we didn't talk much during those times. This time was different, though. He actually wanted to talk this one out. Maybe this new world was changing my brother for something better.


	13. Chapter 13: Lifesaver At The CDC

"Is that it?" I asked Daryl.

"Yup," he answered, grabbing his crossbow.

The building was large with a lot of windows. Dead, decaying bodies surrounded the entire area. Flies surrounded the bodies. The smell was the worst. It was hard to even breathe.

Both of us exited the truck and followed Rick. This was his plan and he was quickly taking the role as leader.

I walked close to Daryl. He was as disgusted with the amount of filth as I was. I grabbed my gun from the back of my shorts and raised it. In this hell hole I was prepared for anything.

Shane stood on the side of the group, silently giving instructions. "All right, everybody. Keep moving. Go on. Stay quiet. Let's go."

Once we were closer, Rick started telling us the same thing. "Keep moving. Stay together. Keep moving. Come on."

We finally reached the sold metal doors of the CDC. Rick and Shane pushed, pulled, hit, and whatever else they could think of to try and get the door open. They were sealed shut.

"There's nobody here," T-Dog complained.

Rick wasn't prepared to admitt that he was wrong. "Then why are these shutters down?"

"Walkers," Daryl cried. Everyone prepared their guns, but they couldn't fire. The noise would bring more. Daryl fired his crossbow and killed the walker silently. He turned quickly to Rick in a rage. "You led us to a graveyard!"

Dale defended Rick. "He made a call."

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl shouted back.

Shane stomped over to my brother. "Just shut up. You hear me? Shut up. Shut up." He then turned to Rick. "Rick, this is a dead end."

Carol was sobbing slightly. "Where are we gonna go?"

Rick stared at the metal doors infront of him as Shane tried to grab his attention. "Do you hear me? No blame."

And then Lori started her shit. "She's right. We can't be here, this close to the city after dark."

"Fort Benning, Rick," Shane cried in desperation. "Still an option."

"On what? No food, no fuel. That's a hundred miles." Andrea was right. By the looks of it, we were fucked.

"A hundred twenty-five. I checked the map." Glenn, this is not the time to be exact with shit.

"Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight, now." Oh my God, Lori shut the fuck up. All you're doing is causing a panic.

Rick finally spoke. "We'll think of something."

"Let's get outta here," Glenn begged. "Let's go. Please."

Everyone began running back to their cars. We had no other option then to leave. This place was a bust.

"The camera," Rick called, "it moved." Everyone stopped and looked at the camera on the wall.

"You imagined it," Dale claimed.

"It moved. It moved." Rick stepped forward to the wall.

Shane wasn't convinced. "Rick, it is dead, man. It's an automated device. It's gears, okay? They're just winding down. Now come on." He grabbed Rick by the arm and started pulling him back. "Man, just listen to me. Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick."

Rick broke free of Shane's grasped and started banging on the metal door. "I know you're in there," he said to the camera. "I know you can hear me."

"Get back to the cars now!" Shane yelled as he tried to get Rick back with us.

Daryl grabbed my arm and pulled me with him. He was going to get me out of here if it was the last thing he would do.

Walkers heard the comotion and started to come our way. Some were a little faster than normally. One tried to grab at my arm, but Daryl saw it and hit it with his crossbow.

As the walker went down, a bright light shown from behind us. The two of us turned around and saw the door the CDC lift, revealing a white light. It was hard to believe that Rick was right. There was somene inside. Whoever this person was, they saved our life.

The group of us stood staring at the light for a second. Only just a second. That was all the time we were aloud to take due to the growing amount of walkers outside. Shane rushed us in and told Daryl and me to cover the back.

"Hello?" Rick called. "Hello?"

"Close those doors," Shane ordered. They wouldn't budge. They were being held open by something.

"Hello?" Rick repeated.

A gun cocked behind us causing the group to turn to see a man in a white t-shirt and jeans pointing a large shotgun in our direction. "Anyone infected?"

Rick chose to be honest. "One of our group was. He didn't make it."

The man stepped slowly towards us. "Why are you here? What do you want?"

"A chance."

"That's asking an awful lot these days." The man was correct. That was a big request.

"I know." The man moved his eyes from Rick to the rest of the group. It was easy to tell he felt for us and couldn't turn us away.

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

Rick agreed to the man's request. "We can do that."

The man lowered his gun. "You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed."

Without hesitation, Daryl, Glenn, Rick, and Shane ran to the cars and grabbed our belongings. T-Dog and I held the glass doors open as they rushed in. We shut the doors behind them and the man shut the metal over them.

Rick introduced himself and the man did the same. "Dr. Edwin Jenner."

The place that we were staying was underground. We needed to take the elevator down. I thought we were done with these awkward rides when the world ended. I was wrong. The silence was killing everyone.

Daryl took it upon himself to break the silence. "Doctors always go around packing heat like that?"

Jenner turned slightly. "There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself." Smart. "But you look harmless enough." He looked down at Carl jokingly. "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you."

Once we exited the elevator, Jenner led us down a hall with many rooms on either side. This hallway led to a large room with computers facing a screen that took up the entire wall. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." At Jenner's command, the criclular light on above the computers flashed on. "Welcome to zone five."

One thing everyone seemed to notice was it was empty. "Where is everybody?" Rick questioned. He sounded extremely worried. "The other doctors, the staff?"

Jenner stood in the middle of the circle of computers. "I'm it." What? "It's just me here."

Lori stayed towards the back of the group. "What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?"

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them welcome," Jenner ordered.

A computer voice came on overhead. "Hello, guests. Welcome."

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry."


	14. Chapter 14: Dinner Of The Gods

The blood tests were administered shortly after our arrival. Andrea was one of the last to give her sample. She nearly passed out when she stood from the chair. Jacqui explained that she, or none of us for that matter, have eaten in days.

Jenner led us to a kitchen and dinning area. "There's enough food here to last for a very long time," he explained. "Eat whatever you like."

While observing the kitchen and food choices, I found the one thing that I had been craving since the outbreak. While lifting the bottle, I turned to the rest of our group. "Look at what I found!"

Daryl looked at me with wide eyes. A small grin emerged from his face. "Alcohol," he said. He quickly rushed to my side, taking the bottle from my hand. It seemed he needed this more than I did.

The women quickly prepared a meal for us to celebrate. Wine was passed around and jokes were made at the table. Dale explained that in Italy and France, children drink wine with their dinner.

"Well, when Carl in is Italy or France, he can have some then." Lori took a sip of her wine, not ready for her boy to become a man.

"What's it gonna hurt?" Rick tried to convince his wife. "Come on. Come on." Who knows when he'll get another chance like this.

Lori gave in with a smile on her face. Dale poured the kid a glass as we all raised ours, congratulating him on his first taste of alcohol. It fell silent as his lips pressed against the glass. After letting a small sip into his mouth, Carl quickly pulled the glass away from his face and onto the table with a disgusted look on his face. "Eww."

Every person laughed hard at the child as his mother poured what remained in his glass into hers. It didn't look like he was going to be having anymore for a while.

"Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud." Shane advised.

"Not you, Glenn," Daryl called across the room.

The young man looked over at Daryl. "What?"

"Keep drinkin', little man. I wanna see how red your face can get." More laughfter errupted at Daryl's comment to Glenn. It was obvious that he has never been drunk before and this was the perfect time to experience it for the first time.

Silence came over our group as Rick clinked his fork against his glass, calling our attention. He raised from his seat and began to speak. "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly."

My attention drifted to Jenner. He was sitting against a wall with a beer in his hand. He was sitting outside of the table, alone. He must have felt like an outsider in his own 'home'.

"He is more than our just our host," T-Dog said happily while raising his glass.

Daryl lifted the bottle in his hand. "Here's to you, doc. Booyah!" It had been far too long since I seen my brother this happy.

I couldn't help but lift my glass and shout, "Booyah!" starting a chain reaction. Our whole group shouted the word, thanking Jenner his generosity and for saving us from the apocalypse.

The cheering was quickly interupted by Shane's serious voice. "So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" He looked over at Jenner as we fell silent. "All the, uh, the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?"

"We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now," Rick told his friend as he took his seat. He was right. We were having a great evening. There is no need to spoil it.

Shane wasn't backing down. "Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move, supposed to find all the answers. Instead we, uh, we found him." He let out an unamused chuckle. "Found one man. Why?"

I took a long drink from my glass, finishing it off. I poured another and quickly finsished that one as well. This was going to end on a sorrowful note and I didn't want to be sober for that.

Jenner wasn't going to let people start arguing. He thought it was best to just come out and say it. "Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."

"Every last one?" Shane was prying the man. What the hell was up with him?

"No," Jenner answered. "Many couldn't face walking out the door. They... opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time." This news caused many of us to take another drink, hoping to wash away ever remembering what Jenner had said.

Andrea was as curious as the rest of us had become. "You didn't leave. Why?"

"I just kept working, hoping to do some good."

After more silence, Glenn stood up from his seat and grabbed another drink. "Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man," he told Shane.

After dinner was wraped up, Jenner showed us to where we would be staying. "Most of the facility is powered down including housing, so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies - if you shower go easy on the hot water." Jenner had said the magic words.

"Hot water?" Glenn asked with the largest grin on his face.

T-Dog shared the smile, as did the rest of us. "That's what the man said."

Quickly, everyone chose a room. Some needed to share. Daryl and I grabbed a room on the left with a couch and a cot. I grabbed the cot before he could.

There were towels in a cabnet. I snagged a long one and a washcloth and started undressing. I wrapped the towel around myself and sprinted to the showers. It had been far too long since I felt the heat of water down my back.

There were only a few showering stations in this area of the CDC. I ran passed a few others, who were also in towels, so I could have the first. I chose the one farthest from the door and turned the water on. It ran down the crevices of my body causing it to tingle. I didn't move for what felt like forever.

I turned to see bottles on a small shelf. Soap, shampoo, and conditioner were the contents in each. I quickly grabbed the shampoo and messaged my scalp. I missed this all too much. I then grabbed the conditioner and combed it out of my hair with my fingers. For the first time since the outbreak, my hair would be soft and not greasy.

The soap was the last thing I used. I took a wash cloth that I had grabbed back in the room and smeared it with the lavender scent. I scrubbed all of the dirt from my feet up, making sure that it was all gone. The water turned a little brown undernieth me. The quarry provided water for a bath, but there was never any soap to remove all of this filth.

After taking another look at the shelf, I found the most glorious of them all. A razor. A smile so big spread across my face that water was flooding my mouth. I didn't care. This was one of the happiest moments of my life in this new world. I shaved it all. My legs, under arms, and even my upper lip were full of hair that shouldn't be there. Thankfully, my body hair was blonde, so no one noticed.

I remained in the shower for a few minutes after washing and shaving. It was the hardest thing to turn off the running water, but someone else needed in and I felt bad for denying them entry. I drip dried, wringing out my hair before wrapping the white towel around my upper body.

Upon exiting, I noticed the other showers were empty. Had I been in so long that everyone else had finished? I easily disobeyed Jenner's go-easy-on-the-hot-water rule. It just felt too good to leave.

Opening the door that led out into the hallway, I couldn't help but notice there was one person who remained to take one. Shane nearly ran into me as he walked to the showering room. He had a towel wraped around his lower body, exposing his top half. I eyed his features. His strong body was smooth like marble. It could have been carved by the gods for all I knew. He had a tatoo on his upper chest, over his heart that said 'Lil Bird.' I wondered who that was for.

"Hey,"Shane whispered, bring me out of my trance.

"Hey." I brought my eyes back to his face. He didn't appear to be in a great mood. I stepped to the side to let him through and continued down the hallway.

"I like your tatoo." I stopped. Before I could respond to him, Shane had already entered the showers. Was he watching me walk by? That was the only explanation for him seeing my red and green rose tatoo on the back of my left shoulder.

Daryl was leaving the room as I was about to enter. "There ya are. What took ya so damn long?"

"I took a long shower. Did lady stuff." Lady stuff? Did I just say that? Wow, these women were rubbing off on me.

My brother laughed at my answer. "Whatever. I'm gonna go grab another bottle." He lifted up a bottle that had once held whiskey.

"Great. Grab me one while you're at it." That's what I needed, something harder than wine.

"Sure thing." Daryl walked down the hall, staggering slightly. I chuckled to my self at his expense. When Daryl drank, he was one of the funniest people in the world. It was always entertaining to go out drinking with him.

Walking into our room, I saw my suitcase laying ontop of my cot. Daryl must have moved it there. I opened it and pulled out my sleeping wear, a tanktop and shorts. It was nothing fancy, but it was comfortable. I threw my towel to the side and started to dress. Before I had my shorts all of the way up, the door opened.

"Jesus, Air. Lock the door or warn me or somethin' when your changin'. I don't need to see that shit." It's not like Daryl hasn't seen me nude before. Back at the camp or even when we were in the woods, there wasn't much privacy.

I finished pulling up my shorts. "Turn around then, dumbass."

"Just tell me when you're done." I wasn't facing him anyway. He couldn't see anything. I slid my shirt over my head and turned to Daryl.

"Done." It took him a second to trust me, but he turned and shook his head. Without another word, he handed me a bottle filled to the top. I opened it and took a slow chug, enjoying every second of the deliciousness.

"Taste good?" Daryl asked with a smirk.

"Hell yeah." We shared a laugh. This was one of the most joyful nights the two of us had ever shared. I don't mean during the apocalypse. I mean our whole lives. We didn't have the greatest childhood or adulthood for that matter. It took the world ending for Daryl and I to have a moment of happiness.

With my bottle in hand, I walked towards the door. "Hey, I'm gonna go to the rec room and see if they got anythin' good to read."

For once Daryl didn't argue. He believed this place was safe enough for his sister to go wondering on her own. It was a relief knowing that I was protected, but could also have some independence. It also felt nice when Daryl made fun of me for it. "Read? Since when do ya have an intrest in readin'?"

"Since I have nothing else to do."

I made my way to the rec room where Carol and Lori were sitting with the kids. They were each grabbing books to read before bed. "Anythin' good?" I asked. Tonight, I didn't let my feelings for Lori get in the way. The night was just too perfect for even her to screw it up.

"There are. Enough to keep us busy for years." Carol looked down at the small stack on her lap.

It was getting late and this had been a long day. Carol and Lori took Sophia and Carl to bed, closing the door behind them. I was left by myself in the rec room, looking at books. Like Daryl joked about, I had never been much of a reader. I ended up staring at the titles on the bindings for ten minutes before I found something I heard of. I heard it sucked, but I still heard of it.

I cracked open the book and sat on one of the white armchairs. After reading a few pages, I drank some of my whiskey. They were right when they said this book sucked. I was going to need a bottle or two to get through this.

Suddenly, the crack of the door forced me to stop my reading and turn my head.


	15. Chapter 15: The Pain In The Scars

"Hey," I whispered with a half smile on my face.

Shane didn't return the smile. "Hey." He leaned against the doorway with a bottle hanging from his hand.

I could see the seriousness in his face as my smile fell. Something was bothering him. "What's wrong?"

"We need to talk." The four words that could mean anything. Shane shut the door behind him as he walked towards me. He sat in the chair across from mine and put his bottle on the table. His eyes were dead set on mine as he began to speak. "Ya know, I'm really confused."

My heart was pumping torrents of blood. "'Bout?"

"Your feelings for me." Shane grabbed his bottle, taking a drink. He then slammed it down causing me to jump. "I don't get you. First, you act like you don't want anything to do with me. Then, you are all of a sudden around me. Then, you ignore me again and you even want to kick my ass. You act like I'm not here. And then in the hallway. I'm not blind. I could see the way you were looking at me. This is just getting plain annoying. Either you're intrested or you're not. I need to start getting answers from you because I can't wait and see any longer. I have enough shit I gotta worry about, too. This is just getting in the way in my mind." He reached for my hands across the table. "So what's it gonna be, Ariel? Either you want me around or you want me to leave you alone. I'll do whatever you want. Just stop making me wait for an answer."

All I could do was stare at him. Shane was begging that I stop playing games with him and all I could do was stare. My breathing quickened as he waited. I wanted to tell him that I wanted him, but I couldn't move. This going to take more time to think about then what he's allowing me.

"So?"

Standing up, I broke my hands free of his grasp and grabbed my bottle. "Listen, Shane. We've both been drinkin' and I think we should talk 'bout this when we're sober." I turned to leave, but his hand caught my arm.

"No. I need answers now," he demanded.

"Shane, let me go." I tried to shake my arm free, but his grip was tight. "Shane. Please."

The amount of alcohol on his breath was stunning. I was able to smell the strong scent as he brought his face to mine. His breathing was hard and desperate. He needed me to say that I wanted to be with him, but I still couldn't find the words.

As his eyes met mine, I stopped struggling. He was a strong man and there was no point in fighting him. Instead of releasing me, Shane caressed my cheek with his free hand and pulled me closer with the other. That's when I realized that I stopped fighting him because I wanted him close, not because he was stronger. If I wanted him to let go of me, all I needed to do was call for Daryl and this would all be over. I didn't want it to be over.

Before I knew it, his lips were softly against mine. It was easy to tell that he was scared and honestly, I was too. I shied away at first, but then I eased into it. He quickly hardened the kiss and released my arm to use both hands to cuff my face. I wrapped my arms around his neck.

Shane picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He quickly ran to the the couch and layed me on it. With out hesistation, I ripped the shirt off his back and threw it across the room. He did the same with mine. It all happened so fast and soon we were both lying on the couch, nude. What the hell was I doing?

He was deep into a kiss when I broke it. "Shane, wait. This is goin' way to fast." He stopped moving, not sure exactly what was happening. I slowly pushed myself up as he did the same. We both sat on the couch, his arm around my shoulder, not positive what to say next.

A blanket hung over the couch and Shane handed it to me. I nodded thanks as he walked over to the table and grabbed both of our drinks. He needed one as bad as I did. We were both confused and conflicted about what had just occurred. After he handed me my bottle, the two of us took a long and slow drink.

The silence was getting to me. Shane deserved an explanation for me putting an end to what was happening between us. He took a seat next to me as I started to explain. "I'm sorry. I don't normally do that. This was just goin' somewhere too fast and I wasn't ready. Don't take it as me not wantin', well, you. The truth is, I do want to be with you. The only thing that stopped me from allowing this was the fact that we know nothin' 'bout each other. I know I told you I ain't much of a sharer, but how are you ever gonna get to know a person if ya don't speak. So, I mean with time, we can go back to this. In this world, I want to know that the person I'm about to be with is gonna wanna stay. I never was the one night stand kind."

Shane looked at me, not saying a word. He allowed the words I had said to sink in. Or maybe it was the shock that I had said that much in the first place. I was never much of a talker. Honestly, that may have been the most I have ever said in one sitting. I was even surprised with the amount I had spoken.

He took another drink. "How are we supposed to get to know each other if you keep ignoring me and running away?"

I understood where he was coming from. It's hard to know a person if you don't allow them to get to know you. "It's just sumthin' I do."

He chuckled slightly. "You sure it's just you? It seems to be a Dixon thing."

A puff of air quickly escaped my mouth. "No, it's not a Dixon thing. It's a me, Daryl, and Merle thing. Just us." I took another drink trying to wash away the memory of why the three of us came to be like that.

Not realizing that the two of us were still nude, I leaned over and placed my nearly empty bottle on the coffee table infront of the couch. Shane's hand touched my back, rubbing it slowly. "How'd ya get these scars?" he asked while tracing one.

In a panic, I shot up and ran over to my shirt. "You weren't supposed to see those," I said as I pulled my top over my head. I hurried and tried to find my shorts. This was not what I meant by getting to know each other. This was a story that Daryl didn't even know. One that I promised I would take to my grave.

"Ariel, wait. I'm sorry," Shane called when I was inches away from the door. "Wait. Don't go. Please." I haulted as he approached me. I noticed he was fully clothed too. He must have done that when I was rushing to get out of here. He placed his hands on both of my shoulders. "You can tell me. I won't tell anyone." Tears began to flow from my eyes at the memory. I wasn't one to cry and Shane knew it. "Never mind. We can talk about something else."

"No." What was I doing? "Maybe it's time that someone knew." Without thinking, I took Shane's hand and led him back to the couch. "You have to understand, this ain't somethin' I tell just anybody. Maybe now you'll believe me that I want to be with you."

"Alright." He prepared for my story.

"Daryl doesn't even know the truth behind them. You have got to promise me that you will die before speaking a word about this." I tried my hardest to trust people. In this world, you needed people. It was something I needed to get used to. I thought that I'd start with Shane, a man that I might be with for a long while.

His hand brushed back some of the hair in my face. "I promise."

After taking a deep breath and a drink, I told him my tale. "After our mother died, our father turned to alcohol to solve his problems. Merle left home because of what the drinkin' did to our ol' man. It turned him cold. When we didn't do somethin' he wanted done, hell even if we did it, he would, uh, take his anger out on us. It got worse after Merle bailed. Daryl took the worst. He did everythin' he could to protect me. His scars are worse. I always told him that our father never touched me, that Daryl stopped him before he could. I told him I got the scars from bar fights. Surprisingly, he bought it. He still buys it after all these years. I didn't want him to feel bad because he couldn't protect me." It was a slight relief to tell someone about my past. I knew that if Daryl ever knew the truth, he would blame himself. "The scars may have heeled, but the pain never went away. The remain there to remind me everyday that our father lived to hurt people. They're the most embarrassing things on my body." I paused and took a swig from my bottle. "The ol' man died when the outbreak first began. Our uncle had to put him outta his misery 'cause Daryl couldn't do it. When he came home, he told me about it and one tear fell from my eye. I hated the son of a bitch, but he was still my father. The things he did to my brothers and me were horrible, but that is no way to die." More tears came from my eyes. It was hard to stop them from falling once they started. "I will never forgive that man for the things he had done. His behavior turned Merle into another version of him. Of course Merle wasn't as bad, but I can see my father in 'em. And Daryl. He shut that boy up 'fore he had a chance to start talkin'. Daryl don't share his feelings and shit because it was a sign of weekness in the man's eyes. He's a sweet guy, but no one will ever see it. And me. I'm just to fucked up to function."

The entire time I spoke, I looked at the wall. It had taken everything I had left in me to move my gaze to the man sitting next to me. His eyes met mine and he was speechless. I couldn't blame him. I wouldn't know what to say if someone loaded a story like that on me. I half expected him to get up and leave. Instead, he was a statue.

We sat there for what felt like years, until Shane did something that took me by surprise. He wraped both arms around me and pulled me close to his chest. He rubbed my back up and down, comforting me. "I'm never gonna let anyone hurt you ever again." These were words that were said to me a million times by Daryl, but hearing it from someone else made me truly believe it. Shane's softened voice calmed me down and I pulled away.

"Thank you," I whispered. It was so soft that I could hardly hear it myself.

It was starting to get too emotional for me. Emotion was something that made me nervous and I needed to put an end to it. "Ya know, the only reason I tried to kick your ass is beacuse ya nearly killed my brother with that headlock."

Shane chuckled at my attempt to break the emotional wall. "He tried to kill my best friend."

"That don't justify shit. You coulda taken the only thing I had left in the world and I wasn't gonna let that happen." I laughed at the thought of bringing Shane down. He was too big for me, but it would be fun to try.

"I can see that. I seen when Rick had that gun to Daryl's head, you were ready to take Rick's head off." It was hard to determine if what he was saying was a statement or a question. It was true, though.

My face became serious again. "Like I said. Daryl's all I got left and I'll be damned if I let anyone take that away from me."

"Daryl's not all you got left." I looked at Shane, not sure where he was going with this. "You got me." It took a second, but I accepted him. Daryl wasn't all I had anymore. I now have Shane and, hell, even the rest of the group.

For the next two hours, we held each other close, drank, and talked. He learned more about my childhood and I, his. He told me that his tatoo was for his mother. She used to call him 'lil' bird.' I thought that was sweet. He explained that he worked with Rick back at the police station and they had been best friends for awhile. He told me Rick's story from his point of veiw. "When he got shot, he went into a deep coma. When shit starting happening, I went back to the hospital to get him out, but they were killing people in the hallways and his machines turned off. I put my ear to his chest and I didn't hear a beat. I sworn he was gone, then, there he is. It's like he rised from the dead." It seemed that Shane had forgotten that was acctually happening outside. "I got Lori and Carl and we headed for Atlanta. They were bombing it, so we found a group of survivors by the quarry. Me and Lori were together for awhile. That ended when I first saw you." I stared at him in shock. No one in their right mind would end something so good for me.

"When you saw me?" I needed to know why I was the one that changed this man's mind.

"You looked so different. You, you had this spark when I first saw you. It changed everything. I don't know why, it just did. You turned my life upside down more than it already was. I hadn't stopped thinking about you ever since." Him admitting this too me nearly caused me to pass out. I wasn't the kind of girl a man fell for. I was just here. Nothing was special about me. I wasn't even average. I was a below average female that repulsed the male population.

"Honestly, Shane, I haven't stopped thinkin' 'bout you either." I had already told him one of my darkest secrets, might as well lay it all on the table now. He softly kissed me, happy to hear that he has been in my thoughts as much as I had been in his.

I spent the entire night with Shane Walsh, learning everything about him. He learned everything about me as well. This was the longest conversation I had ever withheld, even with Daryl. When I was talking with Shane, it was like nothing else mattered. He made everything okay. He made me forget the past, present, and future. The only thing I was able to focus on the whole night was his voice. It was a drug that I couldn't get enough of. I've never been hooked so badly on one as much as I was on Shane's voice. Not hearing his voice caused me to shake from the withdrawls.

Eventually, we both passed out on the couch. We had both finished our bottles of alcohol and drank a bit too much. I doubted that I would remember this remarkable night in the morning. I prayed that I wouldn't forget it, but alcohol doesn't allow you to keep memories. I causes you to lose them and forces you to spend the next day trying to remember what had happened. I had to admitt, even if there wasn't alcohol, I had convinced myself that this night didn't happen. It was too much like a dream than like a reality.


	16. Chapter 16: Nothing

The warmth of another body woke me. Looking over at the coffee table, I saw two empty bottles tipped over on their side. A blanket covered me and whoever it was I was lying with. The lights must have automatically shut off. Since we were underground, it was dark as hell.

I rose from my place as slowly and quietly as I possibly could. That didn't seem to matter because the body stirred under me. "Hey." The voice was all too familiar. My night with Shane came back to me in a flash. I told him much about myself and I was comfortable with it. I don't believe that I had ever done that with another human being.

"Hey," I whispered back. I couldn't help but smile down at him. For some reason, he made me smile and be happy. There was no other way to feel around him. At that moment, no other man could make me smile. That is until I realized that there was another man that had the ability to make me smile and he was going to be pissed if he woke up and I wasn't in the room. "Shit!" I lifted myself from Shane's body and I ran to the door.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Shane didn't want me to leave. I could see that he wanted me to lie with him and continue to forget the world for a little longer. I wanted nothing more, but I was already in enough trouble.

"I need to get back to my room 'fore Daryl wakes up." I opened the door quietly and took a step out. Shane grabbed my shoulder and turned me around before I had a chance to take another.

"I thought you said Daryl was okay with this." That's right. I told him that.

"Just 'cause my brother says it's okay, don't mean he's okay with it. That man says a lot of shit when he's mad. a lot of shit he don't mean. I'd rather ease into it than flat out sayin' it." If there was one thing I knew, it was I wanted to be with Shane. The one thing I was afraid of was what Daryl would think. His opinion means everything to me. With time, he would accept my relationship with Shane. Right away? He might end up killing him. I'd rather not risk it.

"So we're just gonna pretend that last night didn't happen?" Shane was hurt at the fact that I wanted to hide our fantastic expeirence together. What else could I do? There was no way I was going to jeopardize my relationship with my brother for a person I spent one night with. I was thinking ahead and how this would reflect everything. I liked Shane, but I loved my brother and it pained me to hurt him.

I reached up and pulled Shane's face to mine. Our lips touched, igniting a flame inside me. I could stand there all day with our lips never leving their postion, but I needed to get back. I broke the kiss quickly and looked at him. "Only infront of Daryl." Without giving him a chance to respond, I left him there and walked quickly back to my room.

Reaching for the handle, I prayed that Daryl was passed out on his couch. I turned it slowly and pushed the door without a creak. I tried my hardest to keep my breathing low and my steps light. As I suspected, Daryl was sleeping on the couch. He didn't even change from yesterday. Drunken bastard, I laughed to myself.

My cot was undisturbed. I closed the door and hopped into my bed as Daryl turned on his side. He released a loud snore and continued his sleep. I was more relieved and I settled in. If I was going to stay here, I was at least going to get more sleep. I deserved that much.

My mind and eyes had just started to drift when I heard, "Jesus, what the hell happened last night?" Perfect. He's awake. "Air, ya up?"

"Mhm," I mumbled. I didn't want to respond, but I knew him. He would hit lighly with the back of his hand or a pillow me until I answered.

"C'mon. Let's go get sumthin' to eat," Daryl said as he picked himself up. He didn't even bother changing. He wobbled around, probably hung over worse than ever.

I huffed, not prepared to leave quite yet. "Could ya wait 'till I got dressed at least."

He stopped and leaned against the door. "Hurry the fuck up. I gotta get some food and find some shit for my head." My head began to pound at his mention of it.

"Yeah, me too." I hurried and grabbed clothes, not caring if they matched. I just needed to get some meds or something. Hangovers were the worst part of drinking and definately was something I didn't miss.

Daryl and I made our way to the dining area where most everyone had been. The only one I didn't see was Shane.

T-Dog made some powdered eggs and gave them to Glenn. The poor boy had it the worst out of all of us. I don't think I've ever seen even Merle that hungover. Glenn swore off drinking due to his pain.

Lori had some pain killers. She said they came from Jenner. Daryl and I each took some, hoping that the CDC had at least decent stuff to make the pain fade. We sat down with the rest and started eating.

I heard a voice from behind me. "Hey." Shane had finally emerged. He sat down on the other side of me. From the corner of my eye, I could see Daryl giving him the stare of death. He didn't like the fact that Shane chose to sit next to me when there were plenty of empty chairs. Shane didn't understand what I meant when I said to act normal.

"Hey," Rick called to his friend with a smile on his face. "Feel as bad as I do?" he joked.

Shane wasn't in a joking mood as he poured his coffee. "Worse," he answered in a solemn tone. I knew that was directed towards me.

I casually passed over the pain killers and whispered, "I thought ya might need these."

"Thanks." Shane took them without a second look. His hostility was making me sweat.

Before things could get awkward, Jenner joined the rest of us for breakfest. "Morning." I didn't even notice his absence.

"Hey, doc," a few voices said.

Dale looked up from his meal. "Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing."

Jenner poured a cup of coffee. "But you will anyway."

Andrea seemed more pissed off than usual. "We didn't come here for the eggs." Everyone seemed to drop their forks and stare at Jenner. What a way to make this morning a hell of a lot worse.

He knew he couldn't hold it from us any longer. We followed Jenner to the main computer room with the large screen. He walked over to his work station and ordered Vi to put up the playback of TS-19. The computer obeyed and an images popped up on the screen. "Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few," Jenner said as we gathered.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked the doctor.

Jenner looked down at the boy. "An extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end."

Daryl stood next to me, eyes fixed on the screen. I whispered to him. "I got a bad feelin' 'bout this."

Without looking back at me, Daryl agreed. "Sumthin' ain't right."

Our attention was brought back to Jenner as he bean to speak. "Take us in for EIV."

"Enhanced internal view," Vi replied. The screen went inside of the mind of the test subject. There were thousands, if not millions, of tiny blue lights sparkling through the brain. We watched in awe. They were so beautiful.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked.

"It's a person's life," Jenner answered. "Experiences, memories. It's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you. The thing that makes you unique. And human."

Daryl and I weren't the most highly educated of the bunch. We were a little behind at what Jenner was saying. Daryl just tended to broadcast it more than I do. "You don't make sense ever?"

Jenner explained what was going on infront of us. "Those are synapses, electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They determine everything a person says, does, or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death."

"Death? That's what this is, a vigil?" Rick questioned.

Jenner didn't take his eyes off the screen. "Yes. Or rather the playback of the vigil."

Andrea took a few steps towards the screen, examining it. "This person died? Who?"

It was obvious that Jenner wasn't comfortable saying who the person was. He must have known him or her personally. "Test Subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected, and volunteered to have us record the process." He paused before he gave Vi his next order. "Vi, scan forward to the first event."

Vi again obeyed. The lights slowly went dark, starting from the middle and spreading to the rest of the brain.

"What is that?" Glenn asked in shock.

"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs." The head of the test subject then stopped moving. "Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be... gone."

"Jesus Christ," I mumbled under my breath.

Andrea had begun to cry and Jenner stared at her, not really understanding why. "She lost somebody two days ago," Lori explained. "Her sister."

Jenner moved toward the weeping woman. "I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is." Yeah, we all do. He then continued his presentation. "Scan to the second event."

The screen was loading. "The resurrection times vary wildly. We had reports of it happening on as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute, seven seconds." A small red light appeared near the bottom of the brain on the screen. Only small lights shot through parts of the brain.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori sounded like she was going to have a heart attack.

"No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving."

"But they're not alive?" Rick called to Jenner.

Jenner pointed to the screen. "You tell me."

Rick could hardly believe what he saw. None of us could. "It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark."

"Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part, that doesn't come back. The you part." A wave of shock blew through viens. The people that once there were truly gone. "Just a shell driven by mindless instinct." A sudden thick line blew through the brain of the test subject.

"God. What was that?" This was the first I had heard Carol speak all morning.

Andrea answered for Jenner. "He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you?"

When Jenner ignored her, we all knew the answer. "Vi, power down the main screen and the workstaions." The screen and the computers were suddenly dark.

What he had just shown us raised a lot of concerns. "You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea pointed out.

Jenner shrugged his shoulders. "It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal."

"Or the wrath of God?" Jacqui interjected.

"There is that," Jenner agreed.

This couldn't be it and Andrea knew it. "Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere."

I finally spoke up. "Ain't there other facilities like this? They must've been lookin' into this, too."

Jenner took a deep breath. "There may be some. People like me."

Rick was becoming upset. "But you don't know? How can you not know?"

The man managed to keep his cool with every answer. "Everything went down. Communications, directives, all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month."

Andrea insisted on pointing out the obvious. "So it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?"

Silence spread over the room, waiting for Jenner to answer. When the answer didn't come, Daryl started to walk away in frustration. "Man, I'm gonna get shit-faced drunk again." I couldn't help but want to join him. I wanted to forget that there was nothing.

Dale wasn't finished like the rest of us were. "Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question but," he pointed to the clock on the wall, "that clock, it's counting down. What happens at zero?"

Jenner didn't want to tell us, but he knew he had to. "The basement generators, they run out of fuel."

"And then?" Rick asked. Jenner turned around and left, ignoring his question. Rick turned to Vi. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"

The computer voice came on overhead. "When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur."

Daryl was again at my side. "Decontamination? That don't sound good."

"No, it don't," he replied.


	17. Chapter 17: Stolen Bottle

"Everyone, go back to your rooms. We're gonna go figure this out." Rick took Shane, T-Dog, and Glenn to investigate. I watched as they jogged out of the room, praying they'll find out what the hell is going on.

Daryl nudged my arm. "C'mon. I'll grab us some drinks." I nodded. Drinking seemed like the thing to do when shit got rough. I just hope this decontamination thing is something we can avoid.

We spent time in our room, drinking. Daryl paced. He could feel something bad coming. I could sense it, too. I started biting my nails nervously. That was a habit the two of us had. I tried to break it, but after doing it for so long, I gave up. It was no use. The biting gave me something to do when it got crazy.

Daryl continued to pace, while taking a drink. "Could ya please sit the hell down. Pacin' ain't gonna help."

He stopped only a second to look at me. "Didn't ya see how Jenner just clamed up like that. I don't like this, Air. There's somethin' that man ain't sayin' and I have a feelin' it's important."

He was right. Something was off about this whole situation. "Maybe there's an explanation. We just gotta calm..." I trailed off.

"What?" Daryl haulted and looked at me.

"Do ya hear that?" I stood up and looked at the ceiling. My face scrunch up slightly, as I listened.

"I don't hear shit." He was taking his frustration out on me. I tended to ignore it when I was concentrating on something.

Reaching up towards to vent, I felt exactly what I was hearing. "Exactly. The air shut off."

Daryl moved his gaze from me to the vent. He pushed me slightly to get a feel for himself. The lights clicked off as well. "What the hell is goin' on here?" He ran to the door and opened it. I followed him and saw more group members doing the same.

"Why is the ari off?" Carol asked across the hall. So it wasn't just us. "And the lights in our room?"

Jenner was walking down the hall and Daryl asked him, "What's goin' on? Why is everythin' turnin' off?"

Jenner grabbed the bottle from my brother's hand. "Energy use is being prioritized." Daryl looked back at me. He seemed more pissed that the man took his drink. He silently asked for mine and I shook my head. This was mine and it appeared that I was going to need it.

The group had begun to follow the man. "Air isn't a priority? And lights?" I agreed with Dale. Those are two things that are required when underground.

The doctor took a drink from the stolen bottle. "It's not up to me. Zone Five is shutting itself down."

Daryl didn't understand. That meant anger was coming fast. "Hey! Hey, what the hell does that mean?" Jenner continued walking as more power turned off around us. "Hey, man, I'm talkin' to you." He ran passed everyone to be next to Jenner. "What do you mena it's shuttin' itself down? How can a buildin' do anythin'?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rick and the others running towards us. They must have found something due to the looks on their faces.

"You'd be surprised," Jenner told Daryl.

Lori called for Rick. I wanted to do the same for Shane, but this was not the time for emotions. Something was happening and it needed to be solved.

Rick ran to Jenner's side to get some answers. "Jenner, what's happening?"

Jenner refused to look at anyone as he continued on. "The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark." He pointed to the clock from earlier that was continuing to count down. "Right on schedule."

He was silent as he took another drink. He stopped at the steps to the computers and handed Daryl whatever remained in the bottle. Daryl snatched it from the man. He was never much of a sharer. Jenner looked back at us. "It was the French."

"What?" I questioned. This man really never made sense.

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs 'till the the end." Of course it was the Americans to run. The French clearly cared. "They thought they were close to a solution." He turned and climbed another step.

"What happened?" Jacqui wanted to know as bad as the rest of us.

"The same thing that's happening here," Jenner answered. "No power grid. Ran out of juice." He took another step up. "The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean how stupid is that?"

Shane had enough with Jenner's games. "Let me tell you-" He was cut off by Rick.

"To hell with it, Shane. I don't care." Rick turned to us. "Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here now!"

The group obeyed and we all started running to the door. That is, until an alarm started blaring through the facility. I looked to Daryl and the rest of the group. "What's that?" It was becoming a panic.

Vi's computer voice answered the question. "Thirty minutes to decontamination."

Daryl didn't like the current state of the situation. "Doc, what's goin' on here, damn it?"

Shane ran to the edge of the computers. "Everybody, y'all heard Rick. Get your stuff and let's go! Go now! Go!" On the last word, he looked at me. He wanted me out of here.

We started running again to the door. Suddenly, it closed. Rick ran to stop it, be it was no use.

"Did you just lock us in?" Glenn exclaimed. His voice was as loud as I ever heard it. "He just locked us in!"

The group ran to back to middle of the room. People called to their loved ones in worry. I ran with the group as Daryl stayed in his position for a second. The rage was built in his soul and it needed to be released. He ran to Jenner. "You son of a bitch."

Rick called to Shane to stop him. I ran to him as well. Daryl needed to calm the hell down if we were ever going to get the hell out of here. I could hear my brother screaming. "You locked us in here! You locked us in here!"

Shane was yelling to him. "No no no no! Don't!" The two of us were a mere few steps behind him.

Daryl managed to get his hands on Jenner before we could get our hands on Daryl. The good thing was, Shane and I tackled Daryl before he could do any damage to the man. Shane pushed him far enough to where I was able to get a few words in. "Hey hey hey!" I screamed at Daryl He looked down at me. "Calm the fuck down. If you kill 'em then there is no way in hell we are gettin' outta here. You understand me? Anger is just gonna fuck us all over." I turned back to Jenner and the rest of the group before Daryl said anything.

"Hey, Jenner, open that door now," Rick demanded.

Jenner wasn't enjoying the pressure we were putting on him. "There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergancy exits are sealed."

Dale called from across the room. "Well, open the damn things."

"That's not something I control. The computers do." This man's excuses were really starting to piss me off. "I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that."

Jenner's words caused everyone to hug the people they held dear. I wouldn't get that from Daryl. He was leaning over a computer trying to comprehend everything. We never really showed that type of affection towards each other anyway, so it wasn't something I missed from him. It was, however, something I missed from Shane. His warm touch, I knew, would just calm me down.

The funny thing was, it was like he could read my mind. At the thought, Shane was there. He didn't put his arms around me or even touch me, but he stood behind me. That was enough to calm me even the slightest bit. It was nice that he new my boundries. I loved how he pushed them by standing behind me. Just his presence alone seemed to slow everything down.

The slow pace of things were soon brought back to quick speed with Jenner's words. "It's better this way."

The look of confusion on Rick's face was reflected throughout the group? "What is?" he snarled. "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?" The man ignored Rick and kept on clicking away on his stupid keyboard.

Shane couldn't take it anymore. He stormed to Jenner and banged on his desk. "What happens in tweny-eight minutes?!"

Daryl shared the frustration. "Come on!"

Jenner had finally exploded. He shot up from his seat. His face was bright red. "Do you know what this place is?! We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!"

After his little outburst, Jenner sat back down in his seat. He took a second to calm down. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure - in a terrorist attack, for example - HITs are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

"HITs?" Rick asked.

Jenner told Vi to define and that she did. "HIT's- high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen at between five thousand degrees and six thousand degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structure is desired."

As Vi's words rang through our ears, people had begun to cry and hold their family members close. Daryl was behind me, listening. It was hard to tell what he was feeling. His face was blank.

I couldn't hold it anymore. We were minutes from dying. I ran over to Shane and wrapped my arms around his sweaty body. A tear ran down my face. Without hesitation, his arms were around me, holding me as close and tight as possible. I could feel Daryl's eyes stabbing me in the back, but why bother caring. If my life was twenty-seven minutes away from ending, I was going to spend it with someone who would hold me. I wasn't going to let myself die hidding this from him anyway. I had too many secrets from my brother. They were ones that I could die with, but not this. This was something that needed to be shown. He wouldn't believe it if I just said it.

We were standing close enough to Jenner to hear him say, "It sets the air on fire. No pain. An end to sorrow, grief, regret." When he said it in simpler terms, another tear fell. "Everything."

Shane leaned down and whispered in my ear. "I'm gonne get you outta here. I promise." He shouldn't make promises he can't keep. Even I know this isn't looking good. Still, I felt nice to hear him say that. His voice set off my high once again.


	18. Chapter 18: Bullet To The Window

Daryl threw his bottle at the door in frustration. "Open the damn door!"

Shane ran passed everyone with an axe in his hand. "Outta my way!" He smashed it against the door, trying to break it down. Someone found another and tossed it to Daryl. He thought the efforts of both of them would make some sort of a difference.

I watched as both men swung in desperation. Each strike only made the door stronger and them more weak. The door wasn't even scratching. Their grunts could be heard through all corners of the room, each louder than the last.

Shane and Daryl both needed a break. I followed as they walked over to tell Rick the news. "Can't make a dent," Shane complained.

Jenner decided that now would be a good time to be a smart ass. "Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher."

Daryl had his axe over his head as he tried again at Jenner. "Well, your head ain't!" This time it took four of us to back him down.

"Daryl! Daryl!" I yelled to my brother. "Back up! Calm down!"

T-Dog confiscated the axe and Daryl walked away. He hardly looked at me since Shane released me from his hug. That must have added to his rage and desire to get out. He wanted to be nowhere near me.

Jenner again stepped in and said to Rick, "You do want this. Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead."

Rick didn't reply. All he did was look around at everyone staring at him. It was hard to believe a man like him would say those words. That hit home for quite a few people in the room, including Shane. "What? You really said that? After all your big talk?"

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Rick looked to his wife, who was holding their child close.

"There is no hope. There never was." Jenner couldn't understand why Rick tried so hard.

"There's always hope," Rick said as he stepped toward Jenner. "Maybe it won't be with you, maybe not here, but somebody somewhere."

Andrea was sitting on the ground with her back against one of the desks and her arms around her knees. "What part of 'everything is gone' do you not understand?"

Someone was on Jenner's side. "Listen to your friend. She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event." Extinction? I'm not ready for that.

Carol had Sophia in her arms, crying heavily. "This isn't right. You can't keep us here."

Jenner tried to convinve the woman. "One tiny moment, a millisecond. No pain."

"You're not God, man." I stared at him. He wasn't and had no right to pretend to be.

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this." Carol was right. None of us deserved this. He was holding us captive. This was murder.

Shane had had it. He ran to the other side of the room, probably to try and open the door again.

Jenner continued talking. "Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" He thought he was doing the right thing.

The sound of a gun cocking stopped Jenner from talking more. Everyone turned and saw Shane with a shotgun in his hand.

"Shane, no!" Rick sped to the man and tried to stop him.

Shane was determined and he believed that this was the only way. "Out of my way, Rick! Stay outta my way!" He pointed the gun in Jenner's face. "Open that door or I'm gonna blow your head off. Do you hear me?!"

I ran behind him, hoping to calm him down. Rick put his hand to me, signaling to back off. He would handle it. Lori grabbed my hand and pulled me back. She had seen these men in action together and she didn't want me to get hurt.

Rick's words to Shane were low, but still audioable. "Brother, brother, this is not the way you do this. We will never get out of here."

Shane was breathing heavily. "It's too late."

"He dies, we all-" Rick was cut off by Shane's screaming. The noise sent shivers down my spine. This wasn't the Shane I spent the night with. This was someone else, someone with a demon inside, trying to escape. Rick had to raise his voice over Shane's so Shane would be able to hear him. "We all die! Shane!"

The words Rick had spoken were true and Shane knew it. Instead of shooting Jenner like he had intended, Shane took shots at computers and lights. Rick fought him for the gun and ended up hitting him in the mouth. Shane toppled over. Rick had the gun above Shane's head, threatening to hit him again. "Are you done now? Are you done?"

Panicing, I ran to Shane. Before I was able to reach him, I heard his answer. "Yeah, I guess we all are."

Rick was panting as he retreated back to the rest. He handed T-Dog the gun. I reached my hand out to Shane, offering to help. He happily took it and I hoisted him up. There was a small mark where Rick had hit him, but it was nothing serious. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Shane answered. "Yeah, I'm fine."

There was silence as Shane and I rejoined the group. They were amazed at what they had just whitnessed. Daryl looked as mad as ever. Lori was shocked. Rick didn't really know what his next move was going to be. This whole situation was fucked.

Rick knew it, but he wasn't done. He turned to Jenner. "I think you're lying."

Jenner didn't understand and frankly, neither did I. "What?"

"You're lying about no hope. If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?" Rick was right. If the hope was lost, Jenner would have no reason to stay.

"It doesn't matter." He didn't want to explain himself, but he needed to.

"It does matter. It always matters." Shane wraped his arm around my shoulder, watching Rick. "You stayed when the others ran. Why?"

"Not because I wanted to." Jenner stood up from his seat. "I made a promise..." The doctor pointed to the screen. "To her. My wife." What?

"Test Subject 19 was your wife?" Lori asked, shocked.

A tear had begun to develop in Jenner's eyes. "She begged me to keep going as as I could. How could I say no?"

Daryl wasn't one for sob stories. He took one of the axes and started banging away at the door again. He knew it was no use, but it looked like he was doing more than anyone else here. It also was probably helping with his anger.

I ignored my brother's grunts and payed attention to Jenner. "She was dying. It should have been me on that table. I wouldn't have matter to anybody. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field, she was an Einstein. Me? I'm just... Edwin Jenner. She could've done somethig about this. Not me."

Rick took the man's sorrow to heart. "Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's, that's all we want, a choice, a chance."

"Let us keep trying as long as we can," Lori begged.

Jenner looked into the woman's eyes. Something changed. He huffed. "Told you topside's locked down. I can't open those." He walked over to a key pad, slid a card through, and typed the specific numbers.

The door lowered. Daryl dropped his axe. "Come on!" he shouted. Many other voices shouted the same, hurrying us to get out while we still had a chance.

Shane grabbed my hand and tugged me along. "Come on! Let's go!" he ordered. He stopped, though, when Jenner pulled Rick in close during their final handshake, whispering something in his ear.

Glenn was impatient. People weren't moving and our time was running down. "Hey, we've got four minutes left! Come on!"

T-Dog pulled Jacqui with him, but she refused to go. She couldn't live in this world anymore and neither could Andrea. Dale tried to convince her, but she didn't listen. He urged us on, saying he would catch up.

Without another thought, we all started running again. Shane lowered his head to me while we ran. "Get your stuff. I'll get mine and I'll meet you outside of your door." I nodded my head, signaling that I understood his instructions.

When we reached the rooms, I did exactly as Shane said. Daryl was already in there because he got a headstart. He was done packing his stuff and he was packing mine. He wanted to say some choice words to me, but knew now was not the time. We had about three minutes left and arguing would just slow us down.

I grabbed everything that I had lying around and I threw it to Daryl. He threw them in my bag, zipped it up, and tossed it back to me. I slung it over my shoulder and ran to the door. As promised, Shane was waiting for me. He grabbed my hand and we ran up the stairs to the front entrance. Daryl followed closely behind.

T-Dog made it to the doors first and tried to open them. Like Jenner said, it was locked down. Shane released my hand and him and Daryl took some swings at the windows with the axes. Daryl must have picked them back up before leaving. The axes didn't make a scratch. T-Dog called to Daryl to move as he threw a metal chair. Still nothing.

Shane pulled out one of his guns and loaded it. He warned T-Dog to get down as he aimed at the window. He took one shot. The bullet bounced off like a bouncey ball bounces off the ground.

"Rick," Carol called, reaching into her purse. "I have something that might help."

"Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it." Carol ignored Shane's snide comment as she handed Rick something.

Rick took it and shouted at us to get down. I wasn't able to see what it was, but Shane did. He pushed me down and threw himself on top of me. Within seconds, a blast rang through the air and tossed Rick a few feet. I figured it was a granade because it was strong enough to shatter the glass of the one window.

Shane quickly jumped off of me and pulled me up. I hardly had enough time to establish my footing before we were running again. Shane offered assistance with getting out of the window, but I refused. As much as I liked the way he cared for me, I can still do things myself. I was a tough girl and I was a Dixon. Dixon's don't get to get treated that way.

He ran infront of me as walkers approached. No one cared about noise because the CDC was minutes if not seconds from exploding. So, Shane took a shot at a walker and it tumbled to the ground. Rick did the same. I even saw Daryl swing his crossbow and knock the thing's head off. It flew quite a ways. That was definately something that I hadn't seen before.

We all ran to our cars. I stopped for a second and reached for the handle of my brother's truck. Shane suddenly grabbed my hand and drug me along to his jeep that was parked directly behind Daryl. I had no time to double back, so I tossed my bag in the back and jumped into the passengers seat.

It was already too late to leave. Shane knew it, too because he didn't even start the jeep. He quickly pulled me down and covered me with his own body. There was no time for me to object. The ground began to rumble under us and the car started to shake.

The noise that came from the CDC made my ears hurt. It was terribly loud and many more of the same noise followed. I started yelling under the pressure of Shane's body. That was one of my signs of panic and pain and I couldn't control it. Shane didn't bother to calm me down. I wouldn't listen.

The jeep jolted back and rocked the two of us. Shane panted heavily over me as he slowly lifted his head. I had a feeling that it was over, so I did the same.

Looking at the flames, I could faintly see pieces of the structure in which we had just inhabited. It was all gone now. It was down to nothing. The place where I had come to my senses about Shane was destroyed. The place where I had the best night of my life was never coming back. I guess that's what they mean when they say all good things must come to an end.


	19. Chapter 19: Can't Cut Him Off

Shane started the car, as did the rest, and the caravan was set in motion. Andrea and Dale had managed to make it out of the CDC before it exploded. The only one that stayed, besides Jenner, was Jacqui. I spent a moment, thinking about her. I hope that where ever she ended up that she was happy.

Shane grabbed my hand as he drove. I pulled it away. I had something to say to him and this wasn't the time to try to be the boyfriend. "Why did you pull me away from Daryl's truck?"

He looked at me, confused. "What?"

"Why did you pull me away from Daryl's truck?" I repeated a little slower and more upset.

"I wanted you to be in my car." Shane's eyes were on the road. He didn't want to look at me while he told me. "I wanted to be the one that protected you."

I sighed. "Listen, if you want this to work, you can't do shit like that. I'm already under a lotta heat with Daryl. I can't just cut him outta my life 'cause of you. I'm not your's. If I wanted to be in the truck with Daryl, then ya shoulda let me. It coulda been the perfect place for me to talk to him 'bout me and you. Now this is gonna be a hell of a lot harder." It really was. How was I going to explain to Daryl that I didn't chose to go with Shane? He's going to take it upon himself to beat the crap out of Shane. I mean, I know he was planning that anyway, but that just added to it.

"I wasn't thinking about Daryl. I was thinking about you," Shane admitted.

"Well, I can take care of myself. Even if I couldn't, Daryl could protect me. You're not the only one that can. You need to understand that." I lifted my legs onto the seat and wraped my arms around them. The air in my face was making me slightly cold.

Shane wasn't understanding what I was saying to him. "I just feel like I should be the one to preotect you. Why are you so pissed off? I thought we were together."

"Is that what we are?" I squinted my eyes a little as I looked at him. "From what I can see, we spent one night together. One night don't mean we're married. It means a possibility."

"Is that what I am? A possibility?" He tookd his eyes off of the road to look at me.

"No, Shane. That ain't what I meant." I dropped my face from his gaze.

"Then what did ya mean?"

"I meant that the night we had was only the beggining of sumthing. Only the begginin'. It don't make you and me an 'us'. That takes time."

He was growing impatient with my explantations. "Time isn't something we got much of. Live every minute, every second, like we were going to die in the next. That's what I've been doing and I thought that's what you were, too."

"I'm survivin', not livin'." That's exactly what I was doing. I don't have time for a life. Survivng was the only thing, now. It was the most time consuming.

"Well, it's time to start." He pulled my arm away from my legs, reaching for my hand. He squeezed it. "I want to be apart of your life. I'll do whatever, I just want to be the one who, who you look for when you want to be comforted. I want to be the person you come to and spend the night with." It was like he had forgotten about the road and driving all together. His eyes were fixed on mine. "I want to be the guy you spend this fucked up world with. We may not have much time and I want to spend whatever we got left with you."

It was silent. I was taking long and slow deep breaths. Everything he had just said shouldn't be said to me. It should be said to someone who deserved it. I didn't. Yet, Shane was saying them to me. He was pouring his heart out, wanting me. It was so hard to accept that he wanted me. Soon he won't, but I thought I might as well take it while it lasted. "Alright. Alright. We can try this, but there's something you gotta understand." I used more emphasis than before. It was the key to making this thing last. "Daryl's my brother and because we're, uh, together, don't mean I cut him off. You have to allow me to be with Daryl. The two of us are close. We've been through hell and back. I'm not gonna let a relationship ruin everythin' we got."

Shane nodded. "Alright. You're right. I had no right to pull you away from his truck."

We were silent for the rest of the ride. We had just had our first fight and it was a little tense. We were both calming down and thinking. It was nice that he admitted that he was in the wrong about what he did. Or maybe he just said that so we would stop fighting. Either way, it was done.

I watched out of the windshield. Daryl was ahead of us and I could see him looking in his rear-view mirror at the two of us. Every few minutes, he would glance at the mirror. He thought that I couldn't see, but he was wrong. He even turned around a few times. My eyes never left his truck.

It was easy to tell how upset Daryl was. He was riding on the ass of the van infront of him. He wanted to pass it, but didn't want to get disconnected from the rest of us. I knew that it would be awhile until I got a chance to talk to him. It would be even longer until he would want to talk to me. All I had was hope that he would at least stop and listen.

The ride was short lived. The RV soom pulled over and stopped the caravan. We needed to figure out our next move. We had no food, no fuel. We couldn't drive any longer without a plan.

Shane nudged my side. "C'mon. We're gonna firgure this out. But no matter where we go, I'll be by your side."


	20. Thanks

**A/N: Well that's it. Thank you to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed. There is a sequal to this story called ****_Sew Up Your Wounds._**** It will follow Ariel and the crew through season 2 of The Walking Dead. I loved writing this story and I promise the next will be even better. I don't own any of The Walking Dead, except for Ariel. Thanks again and I'll see in the next one.**


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